Dino Time
by superdory57
Summary: When a new villain sends our heroes back to the beginning, they will have to learn about their mentor and really understand the past heroes they look up to. Secrets are revealed and lessons learned, but can the Dinothunder team make it back to the future with out changing history? Tommy has to deal with old demons, while the teens have to deal with each other... trouble is coming.
1. Chapter 1

_Yay, We're back! Hi everyone this is and idea we were playing with a while back and finally got around to posting here. It is all done so let us know what you think of it and send guesses of where you think it's going but know that we have it all written. Hope you like it!_

_Disclaimer: We do not own the Power Rangers. I have no idea who does but i can guarantee it's not us. _

"Alright everyone," Dr. Oliver said, walking into the classroom and shutting the door behind him. "Settle down."

The class turned to the front, quieting down as Dr. Oliver walked to his desk. Setting down his briefcase, he looked at the class.

"Today we will be discussing the Mesozoic period," he said. "But first we're going to have a pop quiz. Clear your tables."

Everyone groaned, but started clearing off their desks. Dr. Oliver was just about to pass out the tests when the speaker system crackled. At the same time, his communicator beeped, indicating an attack.

_"Your attention please. Will all students and staff please evacuate the premises. There is a monster coming this way."_

The students immediately jumped out of their seats, grabbing their backpacks and heading for the door. Conner, Trent, Kira, and Ethan lagged behind, making sure they were the last ones out of the room. As Dr. Oliver escorted the rest of the class down the hall, he jerked his head to indicate that they should go ahead without them. Taking the hint, the four teens ran off in the other direction, making sure to avoid other people. Once clear of the school building, they dropped their bags and started running in the direction of the monster.

"Hurry up!" Conner said. "We gotta stop whatever it is before it reaches the school."

"Wow," Kira said. "I never thought I'd hear the day when Conner actually wanted to save the school."

"How can I play soccer if the fields get torn up?" Conner said with a grin.

They found the monster wreaking havoc on some buildings down the street. It was grey in color and, for some reason, wearing all sorts of clocks all over its body. A giant pocket watch on a chain swung from the thing's hands.

"That is one ugly looking monster," Kira said.

"Yeah," Ethan said, "with a time obsession."

"It's time to stop this guy in his tracks," said Conner.

"Right," agreed Trent.

The four teens stepped up.

"Dino Thunder, power up! Hyah!" called Kira, Ethan, and Conner in unison.

"White ranger, power up!" Trent said into his morpher at the same time.

The rangers ran forward to confront the monster. He turned around to face them, swinging the huge pocket watch and sending the rangers flying backward.

"Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock," the monster said, swinging the pocket watch like a pendulum. "Your time is up, power rangers!"

The rangers jumped back to their feet. Conner attacked first speeding in and launching a direct assault. Tick-tock stumbled backward as Ethan came in from the other side, knocking him in the other direction. The pocket watch whipped out again, striking Ethan and sending him flying. He landed hard, but climbed back up. Kira moved in, kicking and punching while ducking under the spinning pocket watch. She misjudged the distance and got caught in the chain, which knocked her to the ground. Tick-tock advanced, but before he could do anything, Kira let loose a scream and forced him backward. Trent rushed in to take advantage of the off-balance monster and landed a hard kick, phasing through the pocket watch as it swung around again. Tick-tock fell over.

"Back to the beginning!" he yelled before they could move in to finish him.

Tick-tock hit the winding button on the top of the watch and there was a flash of light.

The rangers ran forward to confront the monster. He turned around to face them, swinging the huge pocket watch and sending the rangers flying backward.

"Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock," the monster said, swinging the pocket watch like a pendulum. "Your time is up, power rangers!"

"Didn't we just do this?" Ethan asked as they jumped back to their feet.

"Talk about déjà vu," Kira said

Conner attacked first again, speeding in and launching a direct assault. Tick-tock stumbled backward as Ethan came in from the other side, knocking him in the other direction. The pocket watch whipped out again, but this time Ethan ducked, avoiding the hit. Kira moved in to fight with Ethan. Using her Ptera grips, Kira struck at Tick-Tock while Ethan blocked the pocket watch with his Tricer shield. Ethan ducked down and Kira let loose a scream, forcing Tick-tock backward. Trent rushed in to take advantage of the off-balance monster and landed a hard kick, phasing through the pocket watch as it swung around again. Tick-tock fell over. Conner tried to speed in to stop him, but he didn't get there in time.

"Back to the beginning!" Tick-tock yelled.

Tick-tock hit the winding button on the top of the watch and there was a flash of light.

The rangers ran forward to confront the monster. He turned around to face them, swinging the huge pocket watch and sending the rangers flying backward.

"Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock," the monster said, swinging the pocket watch like a pendulum. "Your time is up, power rangers!"

"Ok, we seriously need to try something else," Kira said as they got back to their feet, "because the current strategy isn't working."

"He resets every time he's about to lose," Conner said. "So let's let him think he's winning, then destroy him before he can hit that button."

"Dude," Ethan said, "he is winning."

"If we could get him to hold still long enough, we could destroy him with the Z-Rex blaster," Kira said. "It might be our only chance."

"You three get ready to fire," Trent said. "I'll distract him."

"Right," Conner said. "Let's do this."


	2. Tic tock

Dr. Oliver ushered the kids down the hallway. As they approached the exit near the parking lot, he caught a glimpse of Cassidy and Devin sneaking away toward the attack.

"Cassidy, Devin," he called, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Where do you think you're going?"

"We're going to get some footage of the power rangers, Dr. Oliver," Cassidy said. "It would make a great story for the news."

"I don't think so," Dr. Oliver said, turning them around. "You're going to the parking lot with the rest of the students and getting out of here."

He stayed behind them until they reached the parking lot to make sure they didn't try and sneak off again. Once Dr. Oliver was sure they were in the car, he turned around and slipped away. Morphing, he started running toward the battle. A flash of light came out of nowhere and Dr. Oliver blinked.

Dr. Oliver ushered the kids down the hallway. As they approached the exit near the parking lot, he caught a glimpse of Cassidy and Devin sneaking away toward the attack. Freezing for a moment, he shook his head trying to clear the feeling of déjà vu.

"Cassidy, Devin," he called, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Where do you think you're going?"

"We're going to get some footage of the power rangers, Dr. Oliver," Cassidy said. "It would make a great story for the news."

"I don't think so," Dr. Oliver said, turning them around. "You're going to the parking lot with the rest of the students and getting out of here."

He stayed behind them until they reached the parking lot to make sure they didn't try and sneak off again. Once Dr. Oliver was sure they were in the car, he turned around and slipped away. Morphing, he started running toward the battle. A flash of light came out of nowhere and Dr. Oliver blinked.

Dr. Oliver ushered the kids down the hallway. As they approached the exit near the parking lot, he caught a glimpse of Cassidy and Devin sneaking away toward the attack. Something was definitely going on.

"Cassidy, Devin," he called, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Where do you think you're going?"

"We're going to get some footage of the power rangers, Dr. Oliver," Cassidy said. "It would make a great story for the news."

"No," Dr. Oliver said forcefully. "Go with the other students."

Cassidy and Devin stared at him in shock for a moment, then turned and joined the crowd of students still moving toward the parking lot. Dr. Oliver took off toward the fight, morphing as he ran. He arrived at the site of the battle to see Trent fighting the monster alone. The other three were taking aim with the Z-Rex Blaster. Dr. Oliver paused, taking in the scene. Realizing that the monster was responsible for resetting the battle, Dr. Oliver focused on the giant pocket watch the monster was swinging. The teens were aiming right at it.

"No!" Dr. Oliver yelled, rushing forward as they fired. "Don't hit the watch!"

But it was too late. The blast from the Z-Rex blaster struck the pocket watch straight on. There was a huge explosion that sent all of the rangers flying. The teens, Dr. Oliver, and the monster disappeared in a bright flash of light that followed the explosion.


	3. Day One

**DAY ONE- Friday**

When his vision cleared, Dr. Oliver found himself in a strangely familiar situation. He stared around him taking in the area. The familiar scenery of Reefside had been replaced by a place he recognized without any trouble.

_How did I end up in Angel Grove? _he thought.

He could still hear the sounds of fighting around him. A small explosion caught his attention and he looked up to see several power rangers flying backward.

"Zach, are you ok?" a girl asked, her voice very familiar.

Dr. Oliver looked up to see the pink ranger as she pulled him to his feet. The pink and yellow rangers had just appeared on the path running to join the battle.

_Kimberly? But that means… What year is it? She's still pink, so it has to be… And she said Zach so… _

Dr. Oliver's thoughts were racing.

"You're not Zach," Kim said, taking a step back.

Zach, hearing his name, looked around while the blue and red rangers kept fighting.

"What's going on?" he exclaimed. "Where did he come from?"

_That has to be Jason… And Trini in yellow and Billy in blue… I don't see… Oh no. That means…_

Dr. Oliver's thoughts were still flying in circles when, distracted by the appearance of another black ranger, Zach took a hit from their opponent and went flying backward again. The team was fighting the green power ranger.

_This can't be happening… That's… but I'm here…This is bad. This is really bad. _

Trying to get his thoughts in focus, Dr. Oliver watched his younger self knock the others back again. Kim and Trini were still watching Dr. O hesitantly. They seemed confused. Dr. Oliver took a step back, stepping away from the two rangers and shaking his head.

"Are you ok?" Kim asked, reaching out a hand again.

_How did this happen? They can't find out who I am… Where are the kids? _Dr. Oliver thought, his mind snapping back into focus.

"Let me help you," Kim said, reaching hesitantly for Dr. Oliver.

"Don't!" he yelled.

The fight came to an abrupt halt as all of the rangers turned their focus on Dr. Oliver.

"Another one!" Jason exclaimed. "Where did he come from?"

Dr. Oliver started pacing around, trying to make sense of what was going on. He glanced up, looking at Tommy. The green ranger had recovered from the initial shock and was heading straight for Jason. The red ranger wasn't looking, his attention still caught by the arrival of a new black ranger. Snapping out of his own shock, Dr. Oliver rushed forward straight at Jason with the intention of knocking him out of the way.

"Jason, look out!" Kim cried.

Jason dove out of Dr. Oliver's way. But Dr. Oliver didn't stop. He kept going and intercepted the green ranger's attack with his brachio staff. Forcing the green ranger back, Dr. Oliver planted himself between the ranger team and the green ranger.

"What just happened," Kira asked, standing up and leaning against a tree.

"I don't know," Conner groaned.

Ethan helped Conner to his feet. The teens looked around, but they were alone. There was no sign of Dr. O, Trent, or even Tick-Tock. They were surrounded by trees, which was strange because there hadn't been any before.

"Where are we?" Ethan said. "Cause this isn't Reefside."

"Not sure," Kira said. "But we need to find Trent and Dr. O. They've got to be around here somewhere."

Sounds of fighting caught their attention and the three rangers took off in that direction. They broke into a clearing and came to a halt, not sure what to do. In front of them, Dr. O was caught in a struggle between a single green ranger and another group of five power rangers. Conner, Kira, and Ethan just stared. Dr. O was on the defensive, keeping the ranger team away from the green ranger, while at the same time keep the green ranger from passing him.

"Ok," Ethan said. "Seriously, where are we? And who is Dr. O fighting with?"

"I don't think where we are, is as important as when we are," Kira said slowly.

"What is that supposed mean?" Conner asked.

"Didn't you pay any attention to the videos on the history of the power rangers?" Kira asked. "Do they not look familiar at all?"

"Nope," Ethan said.

"Thos are the original rangers," Kira said, shaking her head. "When we hit Tick-Tock's pocket watch, it sent us back to the beginning of the power rangers instead of just to the beginning of the fight."

"Oh man," Conner said. "That's not good."

"Wait," Ethan said. "If those are the original rangers, then that means the green one is Dr. O."

"But Dr. O is still himself," Conner said. "Does that mean there are two of them?"

"I guess," Kira said. "Which means we're in serious trouble."

Dr. Oliver braced himself for Tommy's kick and held his ground. Whipping around, he sent Tommy flying backward. The other rangers were attacking, but half-heartedly, like they still weren't sure what to do with him. Landing hard, the green ranger got back on his feet.

"You got lucky this time, red ranger," Tommy said. "But I will be back and you will fall."

Without another word, the green ranger teleported away, leaving Dr. Oliver facing the ranger team. Behind the rangers, Dr. Oliver saw the other Dino Thunder rangers coming out of the trees. Catching their eyes, he jerked his head toward the woods and started backing away. He turned to take off into the woods as they started moving to follow him.

"Wait!" Jason yelled, running forward and grabbing Dr. Oliver's arm to stop him. "Who are you?"

Dr. Oliver spun around, yanking his arm out of Jason's grip and knocking the red ranger backward. The other rangers immediately leapt forward to defend Jason, attacking Dr. Oliver. This time without holding back. Not wanting to hurt any of them, Dr. Oliver just deflected their blows, defending instead of attacking back.

"We have to help Dr. O!" Conner said when the other rangers attacked.

"If we interfere though," Kira said, "we could mess up the timeline."

"And if we don't," said Ethan, "they might kill him."

"Come on," Conner said.

Conner took the lead and the teens ran into the middle of the fight, inserting themselves between the originals and Dr. Oliver. The other rangers stepped back in surprise to see three more rangers appear. They held a defensive position, ready to fight if necessary.

"Stop it!" Conner said, holding his hand up. "There's no need to fight. We aren't here to hurt you."

"Then why are you defending him?" Jason asked, stepping up to Conner. "He's working with the green ranger."

Dr. Oliver tensed, ready to step in the way if a fight broke out again.

"No he isn't," Kira said, stepping forward.

She had seen Dr. Oliver tense up and was trying to keep another fight from breaking out. Jason backed off a little, looking at Kira.

"Then why was he defending him?" Zach asked.

"Why were you trying to kill him?" said Ethan.

"What do you know?" Jason snapped. "Who are you working for? Rita?"

"Rita?" Conner said. "Why would we work for her? She's hu—Ow!"

Kira elbowed Conner and jerked her head backward. Conner looked back to see Dr. Oliver gesturing toward the woods. It was time to get out of there.

"Sorry guys," Conner said. "We've got to go."

"It was nice talking," Ethan said, backing away.

The Dino Thunder team retreated toward the woods. Jason and the other rangers chased after them, still wanting answers. Not sure what else to do, Kira stopped running and turned around. Taking a deep breath, she let out a scream that drove the rangers to their knees clutching their heads. Before they could recover, Kira caught up to the others and they took off away from the rangers.


	4. trent

"Where am I?" Trent said to the empty forest.

The explosion had knocked him out for a few minutes, but now he was up. Not seeing anyone else, Trent de-morphed, deciding he would be safer that way.

"Power down," he said.

A ranger alone would attract a lot of unwanted attention. He glanced around again before trying his communicator.

"Dr. O? Kira? Conner? Ethan?" he said. "Can anyone hear me?"

No response. Trent frowned and shook his communicator.

"Great," he muttered. "Not working. Guess I'm on my own for now."

Seeing some buildings through the trees, Trent started walking.

Away from the other rangers, the Dino Thunder team de-morphed.

"What is going on, Dr. O?" Conner asked.

"Have we really been sent this far back in time or are we just hallucinating?" Kira added.

Dr. Oliver ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head.

"We aren't hallucinating, Kira," he answered. "When you three hit that watch with the Z-Rex Blaster it amped up his time travel abilities. So instead of just resetting the battle again, we ended up here. Now where's Trent?"

The kids looked at each other and then back at Dr. Oliver.

"We don't know," Conner said. "He wasn't next to us when the explosion went off. He was fighting Tick-Tock."

Dr. Oliver looked grim.

"Then the first thing we need to do is find him," he said. "Because by now Rita has recruited Tick-Tock, and if Trent was anywhere nearby he could be in serious trouble."

"Why don't we just call him?" Conner said, holding up his communicator. "Come in, Trent. Where are you? Can you hear me?"

Nothing happened. Dr. Oliver shook his head again.

"They aren't going to work, Conner," he said. "Our morphers can still work because they're powered by the Dino Gems. But the communicators were tied to Hayley's network. Without that, they're useless."

"Then how do we find Trent?" Kira said.

"By searching for him," Dr. Oliver answered. "You three head into Angel Grove and look around. I'm going to check the woods since I know the area. Meet me at the youth center. And please, try not to draw too much attention to yourselves."

"Got it, Dr. O," Conner said.

The teens headed in the direction Dr. Oliver pointed, looking for Trent as they went. Dr. Oliver took off in the other direction, back toward the scene of the fight to make sure Trent wasn't somewhere wandering alone, or captured. Because if Rita had gotten a hold of Trent, they were going to be in big trouble.

Trent wandered slowly down the sidewalk, looking around in confusion. He knew he wasn't in Reefside, but he wasn't sure where he actually was until he saw a sign.

"How did I end up in Angel Grove?" he muttered.

Not paying attention to where he was going, Trent bumped shoulders with someone and fell backward. He looked up to see who he had run into. Standing over him were two very familiar faces, dress in an extremely unfamiliar manner.

"Sorry guys," Trent said. "What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that?"

"Do we know you?" Bulk asked, not moving to help Trent up.

"I'm Trent, remember? I come by the resort with Dr. O all the time."

"Listen, geek," Bulk said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah," Skull added, "we don't know you or any resort."

"Not funny, guys," Trent said, climbing to his feet.

"Why don't you go bug someone else with your wild stories?" Bulk said. "We've got more important things to do."

"Ok, something seriously weird is going on," Trent said. "Do you two really not recognize me?"

Bulk and Skull glared at Trent, but he didn't back down. He just looked at them in confusion.

"You're starting to be irritating, nerd," Bulk said.

"Ok, what is going on?" Jason said. "First there's a green ranger that Zordon never told us about. Now there's four more?"

The rangers had just teleported back into the command center. De-morphing, they looked at each other in frustration.

"Is anyone else's ears still ringing?" Zach asked. "I don't know what that girl did, but that did not feel good."

"It appears as though she can amplify the sonic vibrations of her voice to an extreme magnitude," Billy said, "which causes unnecessary vibrations in the cochlea and severe discomfort."

Zach stared at Billy in confusion.

"He means she's able to scream loudly enough to hurt your ears," Trini said.

Zach nodded in understanding. Billy shook his head and moved over to the computer console, checking on the progress of the repairs.

"Alpha," Kim said. "Can you tell us anything about these new rangers?"

"I'm sorry, Kimberly," Alpha answered, "but I don't know anything about them. And with the computers still down I will not be of any help."

"Are you any closer to fixing the computer and finding Zordon?" Jason asked, frustrated.

"Negative," Billy said. "The green ranger severely damaged the infrastructure of the computers. It will take some time to repair everything."

"Keep working on it," Jason said. "We'll head back to the youth center. Maybe we'll hear something about the new rangers in town."

"I'll stay and help Billy," Trini said.

Jason nodded, and then he, Zach, and Kim teleported out of the command center.

"I don't understand," Trent said. "I know we're not in Reefside, but why don't you guys recognize me? And why are you dressed like that?"

"Cause we don't know you, geek," Bulk said. "Now scram before we make you."

"Yeah, scram," Skull added.

"Now is that any way to talk to a new kid?" a voice said from behind.

Trent turned around to see three teens approaching. One of the guys had a red t-shirt on. He was the one who had spoken. The other guy was wearing a black and white striped shirt and the girl was wearing a pink leotard under a short dress.

"Yeah," the other guy said. "Don't you two have any manners?"

"Of course we have manners!" Bulk said.

"Yeah, we have manners," Skull repeated.

"Sure," said the girl. "The manners of a baboon."

"We don't have to stand here and be insulted," Bulk said. "We've got more important things to do."

"Yeah, important things," Skull said.

"Let's go, Skull," said Bulk, turning around.

Skull turned around too, but the wrong way. The pair ran right into each other. Tripping over one another, they tipped over a trash can and went sprawling on the ground. The other teens laughed as Bulk and Skull tried to untangle themselves.

"I'm Jason," the teen in red said, holding out his hand. "This is Zach and that's Kimberly."

"Trent," Trent said, hesitantly shaking Jason's hand.

"Are you new in town?" Zach asked.

"Kind of," Trent said slowly. "I'm actually looking for my friends. They should be around here somewhere."

Jason, Kim, and Zach exchanged looks.

"Maybe they're at the youth center," Jason said. "We're heading that direction. Why don't you come with us?"

"And if they've been by there at all, Ernie will know," Kim added.

"So you wanna come?" Zach asked.

"Umm… Sure," Trent said, glancing around again.

Not sure what else to do, Trent followed them toward the youth center.

"So when did you move to town?" Kim asked as they sat down at a table in the youth center.

"I didn't," Trent answered. "I'm visiting. With my—friends. We got—separated, and then I got lost."

"Don't worry, Trent," Jason said. "We'll help you find them."

"That's ok, Jason," Trent said. "I'm sure they're not far. I think I'll just go—"

"You can't wander around on your own," Kim said. "Who knows where you'll end up."

"I can take care of myself," Trent said.

"We don't doubt that," Jason said. "But why don't we check with Ernie first, just to be sure they haven't come by here."

Trent shrugged, so Jason got Ernie's attention. Ernie walked over and stopped by the table.

"Hey Ernie, any chance you've seen some of Trent's friends? They're visitors," Jason said.

"No one new here today," Ernie said. "But what are their names in case they come by?"

"Well," Trent said, hesitating. "There's Kira, Conner, Ethan, and then my teacher, Dr. T—"

Trent stopped. Kira, Ethan, and Conner had just walked into the youth center and Kira was waving at him frantically and making cut off motions. He stared at her for a moment in confusion.

"Never mind," he said slowly, standing up. "Thanks for the help, guys. But I found them."

Hurrying away from Jason and the others, Trent joined his friends.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you three," he said. "Where are we? And what was that about?"

"Umm… Where isn't the issue," Kira said. "It's when. Haven't you figured out what year it is?"

"Isn't it 2004?" Trent asked.

"Nope," Conner said. "Not even close."

"It's 1993," Ethan said. "Tick-Tock sent us back to the beginning of the power rangers."

"What?" Trent exclaimed.

Several people, including Jason, Kim, and Zach, turned to look at him. He shrugged and they looked away again.

"What?" he said more quietly.

"We're not really sure what happened," Kira said. "Dr. O is still working on it. But we're stuck here for the moment. And we can't let anyone know who we are. Especially Dr. O."

"Why not?" Trent asked.

"Because there's another him here," Conner said.

Trent stared at Conner in confusion. Kira rolled her eyes.

"We have to be careful not to mess up the timeline," Kira said. "So that means no one can know who or what we are."

"Got it," Trent said. "Lay low til we can get back home."

"Exactly," Conner said. "Isn't that what I said?"

The other three looked at him and shook their heads. Sitting down at a nearby table, they started talking quietly again.

Over at another table, Jason, Kimberly, and Zach were watching them.

"You know," Zach said. "I think they could be the new power rangers. I mean, four new kids showing up at the same time as four new power rangers? It can't be a coincidence. That one's probably the black ranger. He's the tallest."

He pointed at Conner. Conner noticed and frowned at him. Zach dropped his arm and looked away.

"Stop being paranoid, Zach," Jason said. "We can't suspect every new kid of being a power ranger. I mean, look at Tommy. He's new. That doesn't make him a power ranger."

"Well, he has been having mood swings," Zach said. "Maybe he is the green ranger."

"Yeah, right, Zach," Kim said. "If Tommy was a power ranger, Zordon would have told us. The green ranger is probably one of Rita's cronies."

"I guess so…" said Zach. "But you have to admit, it is a weird coincidence that the green ranger showed up at the same time as Tommy. And that the new rangers showed up at the same time they did."

Jason and Kim just laughed and shook their heads.

"I wonder what's taking Dr. O so long," Kira said, looking around.

"Hopefully he didn't get caught," Ethan said.

"Let's wait a little longer," Conner said. "If he still isn't here, we'll go—"

Conner leapt to his feet, letting out a scream and spinning around. There was nothing behind him. Everyone in the room turned to see what had happened. Kim, Jason, and Zach were staring at them again.

"Conner, sit down," Kira said, tugging on his arm. "Everyone is staring at us."

"Someone touched my shoulder!" he exclaimed quietly. "Do you think Dr. O is here?"

"Yes," Dr. Oliver said quietly. "Let's go."

All four of the teens jumped when he spoke, but they covered it by quickly getting to their feet. Glancing around them, they headed out the door.

"Man, that's still freaky," Ethan muttered as they walked out. "Someone needs to get him a bell."

His head jerked forward like someone had hit him.

"Ow…" Ethan complained, rubbing the back of his head.

"I wonder what that was about," Zach said, watching the new kids leave. "That was really weird."

"I don't know," Jason said, frowning. "But maybe we should keep an eye on them."

Jason's communicator beeped and all three huddled together.

"What is it, Alpha?" he asked.

"There are putties in the woods," Alpha said. "They appear to be searching for something."

"We're on our way," Jason said.

Slipping out of the room, the three teens glanced around to make sure they were alone before teleporting to the command center.


	5. Planning

Once they were several blocks from the youth center, the teens ducked down an alley and waited. A moment later Dr. Oliver appeared.

"Why did you sneak up on us like that, Dr. O?" Conner asked.

"I wasn't trying to sneak up on you," said Dr. Oliver, "but I couldn't come in there visible. Too many people would have recognized my face and asked a lot of questions we can't answer."

"So what now?" Kira asked. "We have Trent back. Now how do we get home?"

"I'm not sure," Dr. Oliver said. "Right now, our only option is to wait for Tick-Tock. Hopefully we can reverse what he's done the next time he shows up."

"And while we wait?" said Trent.

"Well, first we need to find a way to keep track of the power rangers," Dr. Oliver said. "Billy should have an extra communicator in his lab. That'll help us avoid them. And, with any luck, they're all at the command center right now, which gives us the chance to get in and out without being caught."

The teens exchanged looks.

"Umm… Dr. O?" Conner said. "Isn't that called breaking and entering?"

"Not to mention theft," Ethan added.

"I'm not breaking in," Dr. Oliver said. "I know where the spare key is. And we're only going to keep the communicator while we're here. We'll leave it for the rangers to find after we go home. Now let's go, and remember, keep a low profile."

"We know," Conner said.

"Now," Dr. Oliver said, glancing around. "We really should get out of here."

"Why?" said Kira.

"This is the alley Rita kidnapped me in the first time," Dr. Oliver said.

The kids all looked at each other, and then back at Dr. Oliver. He just took off toward the street. Shrugging, the kids followed him. When they arrived at Billy's house, Dr. Oliver retrieved the key.

"Ok," he said. "I'm going to go inside and find the communicator. I want the four of you to stand watch. If you see anyone coming, let me know and get out of sight."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Kira asked. "Our communicators don't work, remember?"

"Vocal signals," Dr. Oliver said. "Like a birdcall. Or something else that'll get my attention but not alarm anyone."

"Got it, Dr. O," Conner said.

"Don't let anyone see you here," Dr. Oliver warned them again before heading inside Billy's lab.

The four teens spread out in front of the house, trying to keep watch in every direction. Kira stood by one corner of the house while Trent took the other. Ethan and Conner both moved down toward the street, meandering up and down the sidewalk. After a few minutes, Dr. Oliver still hadn't come out. Voices caught Kira's attention and she spun around, frantically motioning the others to join her.

"Someone's coming!" she said. "And I heard a girl use Billy's name. We've got to warn Dr. O!"

The four of them just stared at each other, trying to come up with something. Panic was written across all of their faces.

"Hurry!" Kira said. "They'll be here any minute!"

"Umm… Ok. Ok. I got it!" Conner said.

He darted over closer to the doorway.

"MOOOO!" he called.

Kira, Trent, and Ethan just stared for a moment. But the voices coming around the corner snapped them out of it. Kira darted forward to get Conner.

"MOO—agh!" Conner's second call was choked off by Kira.

Kira grabbed Conner by the back of the shirt and yanked him around the corner of the house away from the voices. Trent phased into a nearby wall. Ethan looked around for a moment in panic, and then dove into the bushes.

"Was that a cow?" Trini said as she and Billy approached the house.

"Affirmative," Billy said. "Although the statistical probability of a bovine in an urban residential area is highly unlikely."

"I think someone just shot it," Trini said, glancing around. "I wonder where it is…"

"Perhaps we're hearing ambient noise from a neighboring home's choice of entertainment," Billy said, opening the door to his lab.

"I don't think that was from a tv…" Trini said.

They walked into the lab. Unseen by the two teens, Dr. Oliver had plastered himself, invisible, against the far wall. He shook his head, muttering silently in his head about working on warning calls with the team.

"Unfortunately," Billy said, "we don't have time to ponder the statistical probabilities of either argument. We must retrieve the new wiring and return to the command center."

"Yeah, you're right," Trini said. "It's still odd, though."

Billy grabbed the wiring and both he and Trini teleported out.

Dr. Oliver breathed a sigh of relief. Waiting for a moment to make sure they weren't coming back, he finished his search for the communicator. Once he had it, he headed back outside, locking the door behind him. The rest of the team had emerged from their hiding places and were waiting for him.

"Let's go," he said.

They followed him down the street. Away from the house, the group ducked into another alleyway.

"Ok," Dr. Oliver said, looking at the kids. "I said animal noise. Like a bird or, even better, a dog. May I ask why you chose a cow?"

"I panicked!" Conner protested.

"Sure you did, cow-boy," Kira said.

"I didn't see you providing any options," Conner said.

"Alright guys," Dr. Oliver said. "We've got bigger problems."

"Right," Trent said. "Isn't being stuck in the past a big enough problem for one day?"

"How about food?" Conner asked, looking down at his stomach. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry…"

"You're always hungry, Conner," Kira said.

"He's right, though, Kira," Ethan said. "I'm getting hungry too."

Dr. Oliver didn't answer right away. He had pulled out his wallet and was looking through it. Putting it away, he looked at the kids.

"Let me see your money," he said.

Kira, Trent, and Ethan immediately pulled theirs out and handed it over. Conner took his time, fumbling in his pockets.

"You're the one with a full time job, Dr. O," he grumbled.

"Conner," Dr. Oliver said. "We're in 1993. We can only use money from this year or earlier."

"Oh," Conner said, handing over his money. "I didn't think about that."

Dr. Oliver spent a few minutes sorting through the bills each of the teens had handed him. Handing the money back to the kids, he gave them two piles each.

"Keep the new money hidden," he said. "You can't use it here and we don't want anyone to see it. Your shoe would be a good place. The rest of it is fine."

"This isn't going to last very long, Dr. O," Kira said, tucking the money she couldn't use away. "What are we going to do if we're stuck here for a while?"

"Awww…" Conner interrupted. "But I've only got a dollar to use now! How am I going to buy food with that?"

"I'll buy you a snack," Ethan said.

"Great!" Conner exclaimed.

"A normal person snack," said Ethan, clarifying.

"Yeah, yeah," Conner muttered.

"Anyways," Kira said, glaring at Conner. "What are we going to do when this money runs out? And we can't keep wearing the same clothes every day. People will notice."

"My uncle has a cabin about an hour away," Dr. Oliver said. "We can sleep there. I've got some money stashed there we can use if we need it."

"But won't you notice?" Ethan asked. "I mean the you in this time. Not the you who's with us. Aw, man, this is going to give me a headache."

"Eventually," Dr. Oliver said. "Although that explains why I didn't have the money for that car part years ago. Plus, there's already some food at the cabin. That'll last us a little while."

"But what about clothes?" Kira said. "You four can share what's at your uncle's cabin. I can't."

"We'll figure it out," Dr. Oliver said. "Now, Conner."

"Yeah?" Conner said.

"My uncle keeps a truck at the cabin, too," Dr. Oliver said. "I need you to run and get it. Then come back and pick up the rest of us."

"Yes!" Conner said. "I get to drive!"

"Only until you get back here," Dr. Oliver said, giving Conner directions to the cabin. "The key should be hanging up just inside the door. Get the truck and meet us back at the youth center. Here's the key."

Dr. Oliver pulled a key off his keychain and handed it to Conner.

"You've got a spare key to your uncle's cabin?" Ethan asked.

"I own it now," Dr. Oliver said. "And we never bothered changing the locks."

"Got it, Dr. O!" Conner said, speeding off.

"Now the rest of us are going shopping," Dr. Oliver said, looking at the other three. "Conner should be back in about an hour and I don't want to be in town any longer then we have to be tonight."

The truck pulled up to the cabin and the kids all piled out. Stretching, the four of them headed to the door. Dr. Oliver followed behind them. Unlocking the door, they headed inside.

"So what now, Dr. O?" Conner asked, looking around.

"Right now," Dr. Oliver answered, "we get something to eat and get ready for bed. It's been a long day and who knows what'll happen tomorrow. We need to be ready to deal with Tick-Tock and Rita."

"Not to mention your friends," Ethan grumbled.

"Yeah," Trent said. "They're very persistant."

"I know," Dr. Oliver said. "Now, here. We got a change of clothes for everyone at the thrift store. And for tonight we'll eat what's in the kitchen. We'll have to see what happens after tomorrow."

"Thanks, Dr. O," Kira said, taking her clothes out of the bag and passing it to the boys. "I'm gonna go see what there is to eat. Hopefully there's enough to satisfy Conner."

"There's never enough for Conner," Ethan said, grinning.

Conner glared at him, but Kira grabbed his arm and dragged Conner toward the kitchen with her. Searching the cupboards, they found some canned pasta. They pulled out a pot and the rest of the utensils they needed and made a few cans. When it was done, they filled bowls and carried them out to the living room for the group.

"So what happens tomorrow?" Kira said. "We have to find Tick-Tock and we can't avoid the other rangers for forever."

"We don't have to avoid them," Dr. Oliver said. "We just have to be careful. There are a lot of things we can't tell them. Too much information could end up doing more harm than good."

"So what can we tell them?" Trent asked.

"They can know we're from the future," Dr. Oliver said. "They'll figure that out eventually anyways. But you cannot, under any circumstances, tell them who I am or anything that has happened. Us being here is already causing problems."

"What do you mean?" said Kira. "We haven't told them anything."

"I know," Dr. Oliver said. "But I have no memories of ever seeing us. Either when under Rita's spell or after it was broken."

The kids glanced at each other.

"What does that mean?" Ethan said.

"I don't know," Dr. Oliver answered. "But it concerns me."

"We'll just have to be even more careful," Kira said. "No slip ups. I don't want to change the future."

"Conner," Dr. Oliver said. "They'll be expecting you to take the lead, which won't be a problem. You are the leader of this team."

"But what about you, Dr. O?" Conner said. "You know more about what's going on than I do?"

"I can't talk in front of them," Dr. Oliver said. "It's too risky. I'll be there, but I have to stay silent. You guys can handle this. Just be cautious."

The teens nodded. They talked for a while longer, trying to go through a few different scenarios they might run into with the other rangers.

"Alright," Dr. Oliver said finally. "Time for bed. Kira, you can take the bedroom on the left. I'll take the other room and you three can spread out here in the living room. One of the couches folds out into a bed if you want it."

"But Dr. O," Conner said, yawning. "Shouldn't we finish making plans for tomorrow?"

"We'll worry about it in the morning, Conner," Dr. Oliver said. "Now everyone in bed."

Yawning again, Conner and the other three headed to make their beds. Once he was sure they were all lying down, Dr. Oliver headed to his room.


	6. Day two

_Hey there everyone! :) Thank you so much for all the reviews and encouragement we love hearing how you like the story so far. Things will start getting a little more complicated as we go one but hold on for the ride because we have a few twists to come! Keep reviewing and my roommate and i will make sure we keep posting. _

_ENJOY..._

**DAY TWO-Saturday**

"Are we really just gonna sit here all day?" Conner muttered, staring at his drink.

They were all at the youth center again. When they had woken up that morning, Dr. Oliver had hurried them out of the cabin and into town. Leaving them at the youth center, he had left to look for any signs of Tick-Tock.

"We don't really have a choice," Kira said. "Until we find Tick-Tock, we're stuck. I just hope we find him soon."

"Uh-oh," Trent said, looking at the door. "Here comes trouble. Bulk and Skull again."

"What's wrong with Bulk and Skull?" Kira asked, frowning. "They're Dr. Oliver's friends, right?"

"Not here they aren't," Trent muttered. "Right now they're just bullies."

"Hi there, new kids," Bulk said as he walked over to their table. "That's our table."

"I don't see your names on it," Conner said. "So why don't you leave us alone?"

"This is our spot, geek," Bulk said. "So scram."

"Yeah, scram," echoed Skull.

"We're comfortable here," Kira said. "But thanks for the offer. Maybe next time."

"It wasn't a suggestion," said Bulk. "So move it before we move you."

Kira rolled her eyes and went back to her milkshake. A light touch on her shoulder made her jump, milkshake in hand. The milkshake spilt, spraying Bulk and Skull with ice cream. They stared in shock, the shake dripping down their faces.

"Oops," Kira said. "Sorry. There was a bug."

Glaring Bulk turned to exit.

"Come on, Skull," he said.

Both of them left, dripping. The teens burst out laughing.

"What happened, Kira?" Ethan finally asked. "I mean, I know they were annoying, but throwing a milkshake at them?"

"I didn't do it on purpose," Kira protested. "Dr. O is back. He surprised me and I jumped."

"Does that mean we can actually do something now?" Conner said, looking around for Dr. Oliver.

"He's invisible, Conner," Kira said. "You won't be able to see him."

"But they're not," said Conner, staring toward the door. "And they're coming straight for us."

Trent, Ethan, and Kira turned around to see Jason, Kim, and Zach walking toward them.

"Hey guys," Jason said, pulling up a chair. "What happened to Bulk and Skull?"

"They looked a little sticky," said Zach with a grin.

"Oh, there was an accident with my milkshake," Kira said, shrugging. "They just happened to be in the way."

"So why didn't we see you guys in school?" Kim asked.

The rest of the group had pulled up chairs and joined the Dino Thunder team at the table.

"Oh," Conner said. "Well, we're just visiting. It's a science field trip."

"Your school let you go alone?" said Kim.

"No. We have a chaperone," Conner responded. "He's just not here right now. He's—getting things set up for our next experiment while we take a snack break."

"What hypothesis are you experimenting with?" Zach asked.

Jason and Kim stared at Zach in surprise.

"What?" he said. "I can be smart too sometimes…"

"Right," Jason said. "Anyways, what are you guys working on?"

"Umm…" Conner said, glancing at the other three.

But before they could come up with an answer, Jason's communicator went off. The rangers glanced at each other and then stood up.

"We've got to get out of here," Jason said. "But we'll see you around."

"See you around," Conner echoed.

The Dino Thunder team watched them leave.

"Come on," Conner said. "I'll bet you anything that there's a monster somewhere. We need to find out if it's Tick-Tock."

Nodding, they all stood up and headed out the door after the other power rangers. Partway down the block, Conner felt a tugging on his arm and followed it into a nearby alleyway. As soon as they were off of the street, Dr. Oliver appeared.

"Before you go running off after them," he said. "Let's listen in to what's going on."

He turned on the communicator and the four teens huddled around him to listen as the other rangers talked over their communicators.

"What's going on, Alpha?" Jason asked once they were alone.

_"There are putties attacking downtown,"_ Alpha said.

_"They're still looking for something," _Trini added. _"I just wish we knew what…"_

"We'll take care of them," Jason said. "Any luck with finding Zordon?"

_"Negative," _Billy said. _"The infrastructure of the computer system is still too damaged. The malfunctions are making it impossible to lock on to Zordon's coordinates."_

"Alright," Jason said. "Keep trying and let us know if anything else comes up. Zach, Kimberly, and I will head downtown."

_"But what if the green ranger shows up again?" _Trini asked.

"I don't know," Jason said. "But we're running out of options."

"He's the reason we're in this situation," Zach said. "The green ranger destroyed the command center."

"And we can't let him hurt the earth," Kim said. "So what do we do?"

_"I wish Zordon was here," _Trini said. _"He would know what to do…"_

"But he isn't here," Jason said. "So we have to make the decision. If we can't get the green ranger to snap out of it, we'll have to do what we always do."

_"I believe escalating to such extreme measures would be a mistake," _Billy said. _"We would be breaking one of the key rules: not to escalate the battle."_

"We don't have a choice, Billy," Jason said grimly. "If we can't stop the green ranger from attacking earth, then we have to take him out."

"I have to agree with Jason," Zach said. "There's too much at stake."

"Alright," Jason said. "So we all know what we have to do. Either stop the green ranger from working with Rita, or take him out for good."

_"I guess so…" _Trini said. _"I'm going to meet you guys downtown. Billy and Alpha can keep working on the computers."_

"We'll see you there," Kim said.

They pulled out their morphers.

"It's morphin' time!" Jason called.

The kids looked up at Dr. Oliver in horror. He was looking at the communicator in shock.

"Dr. O," Conner said. "They're talking about killing you."

"They're just scared," Dr. Oliver said slowly, "and they don't know what else to do. Everything should be fine as long as we get Zordon back in time."

"But how are we going to do that?" Kira said, looking at Dr. Oliver in concern.

"Let me worry about it," Dr. Oliver said, shaking his head. "You four head downtown and see if you can't help the rangers. And keep them distracted for a little while. I'm going to the command center to see what I can do about their computer problems."

"Got it, Dr. O," Conner said, pulling out his morpher. "Let's go."

"Dino Thunder, power up! Hyah!" the team called.

"White ranger, power up!" Trent said.

When the four teens were gone, Dr. Oliver pulled something out of his pocket. Holding it up, he studied it for a moment, flipping it in his fingers. It was his old green power coin that he had carried around for years.

_Sitting at a table in the youth center, the rangers celebrated Tommy's freedom from Rita's spell. They laughed and talked, glad they didn't have to fight anymore. After a little while though, Tommy grew silent and thoughtful. _

_ "What's wrong Tommy?" Kim asked, putting a hand on his arm. _

_ "I don't know," he said. "I was just thinking…"_

_ "About what?" asked Trini._

_ "Well," Tommy said slowly. "What would you guys have done if you couldn't break the spell?"_

_ The other rangers were silent for a moment, looking at each other._

_ "We were always going to save you, bro," Jason said, placing a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "No question."_

_ Tommy smiled. They all started talking again, Tommy joining in. Happy to be a part of the group._

Dr. Oliver let out a sigh and closed his fist around the coin. Using the communicator he teleported out of the alleyway to the command center.

When the Dino Thunder team arrived downtown, the other power rangers were already fighting the putties. They stood watching for a moment, and then Kira realized an unchecked group of putties was heading for some civilians who were watching nearby.

"Problem, guys," she said, pointing.

"Come on," Conner said, running toward the putties.

"Get out of here!" Kira yelled at the bystanders, who finally started moving.

The Dino Thunder rangers hit the putties at full strength, working together to take them down. If one of them fell, at least one other was immediately there to cover them and fill their spot. Constantly rotating who was taking the lead, the teens took out the putties quickly.

"These guys are a lot easier to fight than the Tyrannodrones," Trent said.

"Yeah," said Ethan. "Maybe we should slow down. We're out-doing the other rangers."

They all glanced over as they continued to fight. The other rangers were doing well, but they weren't taking out the putties nearly as quickly as the Dino Thunder team. They didn't have the precision the Dino Thunder team had from training.

"Nah," Conner said. "Let's finish these guys off. If they need help when we're done we can jump in."

They finished off the last of the putties surrounding them and stopped to watch the original rangers. The last few putties were fighting them. Once they were all gone, the two ranger teams stood facing each other. For a moment, no one spoke.

"Wait a minute," Zach said, staring at Trent. "I thought you were a black ranger. When did you change colors?"

Trent looked down at himself.

"I didn't," he said. "I'm the white ranger."

"But there was a black ranger before," Zach said.

"Right," Ethan said. "But he's the white ranger. The opposite color of black. Don't you know your colors yet?"

"Hey!" Zach exclaimed.

"Then where's the black ranger?" Jason asked.

He took a step forward and the Dino teens tensed, ready to react.

"Not here," Kira answered.

"I can see that," Jason snapped. "So where is he?"

"He's busy," Conner answered.

"Doing what?" Kim asked.

The Dino Thunder team looked at each other.

"Important stuff," Conner said quickly.

The others groaned, shaking their heads. Kira elbowed Conner.

"Like what?" Trini asked.

"We really don't know," Trent said.

"He doesn't always tell us," Conner added.

Now it was the original rangers' turn to exchange looks.

"But aren't you the leader?" Jason asked, looking at Conner.

"Yes," Conner said. "I'm the leader of the team."

"Then shouldn't you know what he's doing?" Zach asked.

"I guess. But he kind of just does what he wants," Conner said, shrugging. "But he usually knows what he's doing, so it all works out in the end."

"It's easier than arguing with him," Ethan added.

Jason's communicator started going off, interrupting the conversation.

"What is it, Alpha?" he asked.

_"Ay yi yi yi,"_ Alpha said. _"There was a strange black ranger in the command center. He did something to the computers."_

Without waiting to hear anything else, Jason whipped around. He stalked toward the Dino Thunder team.

"You were distracting us!" he snarled.

"You got it!" Ethan said.

The Dino Thunder rangers started backing away, hoping to avoid a fight.

"You aren't getting away with this," Jason said.

The original rangers all launched themselves at the Dino Thunder team, who turned to run. They split up, taking off in different directions. Zach took off after Trent, who ran down a dead end alley. Zach cornered him.

"You've got nowhere to go," Zach said, advancing.

"That's what you think," Trent responded, giving Zach a half-salute. "See ya!"

Zach just stared in shock as Trent phased backward into the wall, disappearing from sight. Back out on the street, Jason had gone straight for Conner, who had immediately zipped away and out of reach. Jason stared in shock for a moment. Ethan, who was still standing nearby, just laughed.

"Too slow," Ethan said, laughing. "You won't catch him that way."

Jason spun around, one hand swinging around to punch Ethan. Seeing it coming, Ethan put his arms up to block, his armor on. Jason hit him hard, but stumbled backward in pain when his fist connected with Ethan's armor.

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "What was that?"

"Not a good idea," Ethan said as he turned to leave. "Bye!"

Ethan took off running. Kim and Trini were having trouble with Kira. While Jason and Zach went after the other three, Kim and Trini had both charged at Kira. She ran, but they pursued. Deciding not to draw anything out anymore, Kira stopped and spun around in a kick, catching both of the other girls and knocking them to the ground.

"Don't make me do it," she threatened, standing over them.

Kim and Trini, remembering Kira's scream from before, stayed where they were. Kira joined Ethan as he ran past and they both disappeared. Zach came back as Kim and Trini climbed to their feet. They all joined Jason, who was shaking his arm and gingerly stretching out his hand.

"Now what?" Zach asked.

"Let's get back to the command center," Jason answered. "I swear, if they damaged anything else I'm going to hunt them down and make them pay."

The other rangers nodded in agreement and then they all teleported away.

Arriving at the command center, Dr. Oliver turned invisible to avoid notice. Billy and Alpha were both bent over the computer, so he waited for his chance.

"The power keeps fluctuating," Billy was saying. "Perhaps there is a malfunction in the main generator."

"Ay yi yi yi," Alpha said, shaking his head. "Let's see what we can do in the generator room."

Both of them left the room. Moving quickly, Dr. Oliver became visible and moved over to the computers. He started checking over all of the equipment, trying to remember everything he damaged as the green ranger.

"Looks like they fixed almost everything," Dr. Oliver muttered quietly. "So why isn't it running yet?"

He finally found the issue. Looking underneath one of the main panels, Dr. Oliver found a part that had shorted out. Billy had missed it when he was rewiring that panel. Disconnecting the part, Dr. Oliver set it down on the counter and turned to the computer's keyboard. He had spent too much time searching for the part. Billy and Alpha would be back any moment. Dr. Oliver quickly started punching in coordinates into the search program so that once it was up and running, it would quickly hone in on Zordon's signal. He was just finishing up when Billy and Alpha returned.

"Ay yi yi yi!" Alpha exclaimed when he saw Dr. Oliver. "What are you doing?"

Dr. Oliver didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up the shorted-out part and tossed it to the surprised Billy. Alpha reached for a button on the control panel, but Dr. Oliver saw him. Sidestepping, he avoided the force field Alpha had tried to put around him. Shaking his head at Alpha, Dr. Oliver used the communicator again and teleported out in a flash of green light, leaving a stunned Billy and Alpha behind.

As soon as they arrived at the command center, the rangers took off their helmets and looked around, expecting to see more damage. But they couldn't see anything immediately wrong. Billy was standing at the computer, looking at it in surprise.

"What happened?" Jason demanded.

"The computer is operating at optimum performance," Billy responded, turning around.

"You fixed it?" Trini asked excitedly.

"Affirmative," said Billy.

"I mean what happened with the black ranger?" Jason said.

"He helped," Billy answered.

The other rangers looked at each other in confusion.

"What do you mean, 'helped'?" Zach asked.

"Alpha and I went to examine the main generator," Billy said. "When we returned, we found the black ranger. He was located at the consol and appeared to be reprogramming the computer. After we caught him, the black ranger gave me this."

Billy held up a computer part.

"It would appear that we interrupted him while he was attempting to rectify the computer's malfunctions," Billy continued.

"So have you found Zordon?" Kim asked.

"We have locked onto his coordinates," Alpha answered.

"As long as the computer's power remains at optimum levels," Billy said, "Zordon should return shortly."

The rangers waited anxiously as Zordon appeared.

"Rangers," Zordon said. "Well done. You have reestablished our computer link-up."

"Zordon!" Kim exclaimed.

"Yes!" said Zach.

"We're so glad you're back, Zordon," Trini said.

"I think we were wrong about the black ranger, you guys," Zach said.

"Really wrong," said Kim. "And maybe we were wrong about the others too."

"Yeah," Trini said. "We didn't really give them a chance."

Billy nodded his agreement, still focused on the computer in front of him. He frowned, concentrating on something.

"I don't know," Jason said, shaking his head. "Maybe he helped, but who knows why? He could be setting up a trap for us."

"I don't know what to think," Zach said. "After all, he did stop us from fighting the green ranger."

"Rangers," Zordon said. "There is something you need to see. Observe the viewing globe."

The rangers moved over to the viewing globe as an image started to appear.

"Billy found this on the computer," Alpha said. "It wasn't there before."

"It is the identity of the green ranger," Zordan said.

The rangers watched as a fuzzy picture appeared on the screen. Slowly it became clearer and Kimberly let out a gasp and the rangers looked at each other in surprise.

"No way," Kim said.

"Awe man," Jason said. "Tommy."

"He is under Rita's spell," Zordon said.

"How do we free him, Zordon?" Kim asked.

"Destroy the Sword of Darkness," Zordon answered. "Only that will free him from Rita's spell."

"Then we know what we need to do," Jason said. "Let's split up and find Tommy. If anyone finds him, report back. No one face him alone."

"Why are we sitting here again?" Conner asked. "I'm so bored…"

The four teens were back at the youth center. After the fight they had met up with Dr. Oliver and he had sent them there for the rest of the afternoon. Kira, Trent, and Conner were sitting at one of the tables, keeping an eye out for the other rangers while they talked. They had already eaten lunch and were trying to find ways to entertain themselves.

"Because Dr. O said so," Kira answered.

Ethan came back from the arcade games in the corner. After eating, he had headed straight for the games.

"That's it," he said. "I have officially beaten all of the games and set their high scores for at least the next few years. There's got to be something else to do. Where's Dr. O?"

"He left about an hour ago," Trent answered. "He said something about taking a break from invisibility in the one place he knows his younger self won't be."

"Which is where?" Ethan asked.

"The library," said Kira.

Ethan and Conner both started laughing. They all looked over at the younger Tommy who was currently working out on the youth center's equipment. He didn't look like he had any intention of going to the library anytime soon.

"How much is he lifting?" Kira said, trying not to stare.

"I don't know," Trent said. "But it's got to be at least 200 pounds."

"And he's a freshman?" Ethan asked.

"Yep," Kira said.

"Wow," said Ethan. "Dr. O really does like us."

"What do you mean?" Kira asked.

"If he can lift that much as a freshman, imagine how much he can lift now," Ethan said. "And think of just how much damage he could do if we made him mad."

"But I make him mad on a daily basis," Conner said. "He's never hurt me."

"Exactly," said Ethan. "He has to be holding back a lot when he spars with us."

The teens exchanged looks as the idea sunk in. They looked back over at Tommy, shaking their heads.

"He really does like us," Conner said. "Maybe I shouldn't make him mad anymore…"

"Good idea," Dr. Oliver whispered behind them.

All four of the teens jumped in surprise, nearly knocking over their chairs.

"You've got to stop doing that!" Kira exclaimed quietly. "People here already think we're weird. We don't need any more attention."

Dr. Oliver didn't answer. Looking around, Kira saw Kimberly come into the youth center.

"Look," Kira said. "There's Kim. I wonder what she's doing here alone."

Kim headed straight up to the counter. The teens watched Kim talking to Ernie, but they couldn't hear what she was saying. Bulk and Skull were at the counter next to her drinking a milkshake out of a blender. They started tormenting her.

"Man," Ethan said. "Those guys don't quit. I'm glad they aren't like that in our time."

Skull leaned in to kiss Kim, but she moved out of the way at the last second and his kiss landed on Bulk's cheek. The two of them stared at each other in horror for a moment, and then ran out of the room. Kira, Trent, Conner, and Ethan all started laughing. Ernie pointed over at Tommy and the teens got quiet again as Kim walked in their direction.

"I wonder what she wants with Dr. O," Kira said. "I mean Tommy."

"That's still weird," Conner said, shaking his head.

"Shh…" Dr. Oliver hissed. "Listen."

Kim walked up to Tommy, who continued working out on the machine.

"Tommy," she said. "Tommy, I know."

He looked up at her, pausing.

"I know you're the green ranger," Kim continued.

Tommy stopped his workout and leaned forward.

"Well then, pink ranger," he said. "You should also know that you and the other power rangers will soon be destroyed."

"Let us help you," Kim said. "We can break Rita's spell."

"Rita is my empress," Tommy responded. "She will soon rule the world."

"Tommy, please let us help you," Kim begged.

"You have been warned," he said, his eyes flashing green.

Without another word, Tommy stood up and left. Kim stood looking after him for a moment, then left herself.

"Wow," Ethan muttered. "Dr. O was scary when he was evil."

"Dr. O is still scary," Conner said.

His head jerked forward suddenly.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed. "I really hate the whole invisibility thing."

"You knew he was here," Kira said, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, guys," Dr. Oliver said quietly. "Let's go. They can take it from here."

"But what if they—" Conner started to say.

"Everything will be fine, Conner," Dr. Oliver interrupted. "Let's head back to the cabin for the night."

"Fine," Conner grumbled as the four teens stood up from the table.

They headed toward the door, still talking quietly to Dr. Oliver as they went.

"But if you die," Kira said, "we'll be stuck here."

"If I die," Dr. Oliver said as they walked out the door, "then the whole timeline will reset and you'll probably never end up here."

"Oh, right," Kira said.

"What?" asked Conner.

Trent, Ethan, Kira, and Dr. Oliver groaned.

"Come on, Conner," Kira said. "We'll explain in the truck."


	7. Day five

**DAY FIVE-Tuesday**

A few days later, the Dino Thunder teens were back at the youth center. Sitting at the table that had become their usual place, they picked at the remnants of their food. They had eaten a late lunch after spending most of the day at the cabin.

"Ok. That's it," Conner said. "We have been sitting here or in the cabin for the last three days. When is something going to happen?"

"Whenever Dr. O says," Kira said. "He doesn't want us interfering with the rangers anymore than we have to."

"And since there's still no sign of Tick-Tock," Trent added, "we have to sit here."

They all let out a sigh and stared off into space.

"Is it time to go meet Dr. O in the park?" Ethan asked.

Kira turned to look at the clock.

"Almost," she said. "Oh! Look."

They all turned and looked in the direction Kira was facing. The rangers had just walked in. Tommy was with them and they were all laughing and talking.

"They must've broken the spell," Trent said.

The other rangers sat down at a table nearby. A few of them glanced over at the Dino teens, but no one made a move to approach them.

"That's great," Ethan said. "I guess we don't have to worry about Dr. O dying anymore. Well, I guess he could still die. But they aren't going to kill him."

Kira rolled her eyes.

"Come on guys," she said. "It's close enough to time. Let's go meet Dr. O for an update."

They stood up from the table and headed for the door.

"I wonder where they're going," Kim said, watching the new kids head out the door.

"You know," Zach said. "They've been here almost all week and I have yet to see them at school. Has anyone else seen them?"

Everyone shook their heads no.

"Come to think of it," Jason said, "this is the only place I've seen them since we ran into Trent on the street."

"Something's got to be up with them," said Trini.

"Well, why don't we go ask them?" Tommy said.

"Yeah," said Jason. "Come on guys. Let's go talk to them."

Standing up, they followed the other teens out the door.

"Anyone see Dr. O?" Ethan said, looking around.

They were wandering through the park, trying to find Dr. Oliver. There weren't a lot of people around, but they still couldn't find him.

"Maybe he's not here yet," Kira said. "We did leave a little early."

"Which means we'll probably be waiting another ten minutes," Conner said.

"Wait," said Trent. "There he is."

He pointed toward a fountain. Dr. Oliver was leaning against a lamp post watching them. Waving, the kids started heading in his direction. Suddenly, he disappeared. The teens froze, looking around in surprise.

"Why did he just turn invisible?" asked Kira.

"Uh, guys," Trent said, looking behind them.

The other three turned around to see the original rangers walking toward them.

"Great," Conner muttered. "Hey guys!"

Jason and the others stopped next to them. Tommy was standing next to Jason, studying the four teens.

"Hey," Jason said. "We haven't seen you four around much."

"We've been busy," Conner said.

"What are you doing in the park?" Kim asked.

"Looking for our teacher," said Ethan.

"This is a weird place to be looking for your teacher," Tommy said.

"Yeah, well, he's a weird teacher," Conner said.

His head jerked forward.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, rubbing his hand on the back of his head.

"Are you ok?" Trini asked.

"Oh, yeah," said Conner quickly. "It was a bee."

"That must've been one big bee," said Zach.

Kira glared at Conner. He shrugged, putting his hands up. Shaking her head, Kira turned back to the other group. They were still staring.

"So why haven't we seen you in school?" asked Tommy after a moment.

"Uh, we're on break," said Conner. "From our school."

"We're on a research trip," Ethan added quickly. "Out here in the hills."

"What are you researching?" Billy asked.

"Rocks," Conner answered. "Really old rocks."

The rangers looked at Conner in confusion. Ethan smacked his forehead with one hand.

"Fossils," Kira snapped.

"Right," said Conner. "Fossils."

"How long are you guys gonna be here?" Jason asked.

"Umm… Well," Conner started to say.

But he didn't get any further as both groups found themselves completely surrounded by putties. Both teams immediately dropped into defensive stances. The Dino Thunder team created a circle, back to back, while the other rangers stayed a little more spread out.

"You guys should get out of here," Jason said, looking over his shoulder at Conner and the rest of the team.

"So should you," retorted Conner.

The putties attacked and both groups jumped into the fight. The originals seemed shocked at how well the Dino Thunder team was doing, but they were too distracted to ask questions. After a few minutes, Trini and Billy found themselves surrounded and cut off from the other rangers. Billy got knocked to the ground and Trini ran over to him.

"Are you ok?" she asked, helping him up.

"I'm fine," he said. "Look out!"

Trini turned around to see a putty leaping at her. Surprised, Trini didn't have time to defend herself. But before it reached her, the putty suddenly went flying in the other direction like it had been thrown. Trini and Billy stared in surprise.

"What just happened?" Trini asked.

Billy just shook his head. They joined back in the fight, still occasionally seeing putties go down when no one was around. Taking down the last of the putties, the two teams paused. But not for long. With the putties gone, Goldar and Scorpina appeared to face the rangers.

"Get out of here!" Jason yelled, looking at the Dino Thunder team.

"He's got to be kidding," Conner muttered. "Like we're really going anywhere."

The other rangers made no move to morph. The Dino Thunder team exchanged looks. It was quickly turning into a face-off of who would give first.

"We can't fight them un-morphed," Kira said quietly. "And they aren't going to morph with us here. They're going to stick to the code."

"Decision made then," said Conner. "Let's do this. Ready?"

"Ready," said the other three, pulling out their morphers.

"Dino Thunder, power up! Hyah!" called Conner, Ethan, and Kira.

"White Ranger, power up!" said Trent.

The original rangers stared at the Dino Thunder team in complete shock. Even Goldar and Scorpina paused. Zach recovered first.

"I told you so!" he exclaimed, whipping around to look at Jason. "I knew they were power rangers."

"Forget it, Zach," Jason answered. "We'll talk about it later. It's morphin' time!"

"Dragonzord!" called Tommy.

"Mastadon!" called Zach.

"Pterodactyl!" called Kimberly.

"Triceratops!" called Billy.

"Sabertooth Tiger!" called Trini.

"Tyrannosaurus!" called Jason.

"You think just because there are more of you that you can defeat me?" said Goldar. "We will destroy you all!"

"Wow," Kira said, looking at Scorpina and Goldar. "That gold armor stuff is really tacky. At least Elsa is fashionable."

The original rangers stared at the Dino Thunder team as they debated back and forth. Scorpina and Goldar advanced toward the two teams.

"Yeah," said Ethan. "In a creepy, mutant, psycho way."

"Better than her," Kira said, gesturing at Scorpina.

"How dare you!" Scorpina exclaimed.

Kira, Trent, Ethan, and Conner looked over at her.

"Oh, right," Kira said. "Time to take down the bad guys."

"We've got this," Jason said, taking a step toward Goldar.

"Right," Tommy said, stepping up next to him.

Both of them jumped sideways in surprise when the black ranger suddenly appeared between them. Dr. Oliver didn't pause, but ran straight for Goldar, pulling his Brachio staff out as he ran.

"Wait!" Jason yelled after him. "You'll never beat him!"

"I'll bet you five bucks he can!" Conner called as the Dino Thunder team charged Scorpina.

"I'll bet twenty!" Ethan said.

The rangers stared at Ethan and Conner in surprise for a moment. All four of the Dino Ranger teens were battling with Scorpina and keeping her busy. Dr. Oliver was fighting with Goldar alone. He was matching Goldar blow for blow, both moving so quickly their weapons were blurred. Tommy leapt forward to try and join the fight, but he was thrown backward.

"Tommy," cried Kimberly, running to help him up. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm fine. Maybe he doesn't need help."

Surprised by the strength of the new team, Goldar and Scorpina retreated, leaving the two ranger teams behind. The original rangers grouped around Jason while the Dino Thunder team all moved to stand next to Conner.

"Alright. Who are you and where did you come from?" Jason demanded.

Conner glanced back at Dr. Oliver, who nodded.

"We need to talk," Conner said, turning back to Jason.

"Why don't we head back to your command center," Kira suggested. "We'll tell you what we can."

"How do you know about the command center?" Kim asked.

"We should probably get out of here," Ethan said, glancing around. "We're starting to draw attention."

People had started to notice there were two teams of power rangers. They were gathering again, talking and pointing.

"Fine," Jason said. "We'll teleport you there."

The originals moved forward to the Dino Thunder team. Jason put a hand on Conner's shoulder while Trini placed a hand on Kira's, Billy on Ethan's, and Zach on Trent's. Kim stepped forward to touch Dr. Oliver's shoulder, but he held up a hand to stop her, disappearing in a flash of green light. The original rangers stared in shock.

"I thought you guys couldn't teleport," Zach said.

"We can't," Conner said. "He's—well—"

"He's special," Kira interrupted. "We'll explain more at the command center."

Nodding, the original rangers teleported themselves and the Dino Thunder team out of the park. When they arrived at the command center, Dr. Oliver was already there. He was leaning against the computer console, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked up at Zordon. Alpha was on the other side of the room.

"Ay yi yi yi!" he was exclaiming. "Not again!"

"It's alright, Alpha," Jason said. "They're friends. I think."

The Dino Thunder team exchanged looks. Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent de-morphed and the original rangers followed suit. They stared at each other for a moment as Dr. Oliver moved to stand behind his team, staying morphed and leaning back against the console. The original rangers stood across from the Dino Thunder team, Jason standing in front. Tommy leaned against the console on that side of the room, mirroring Dr. Oliver. Billy looked between the two of them thoughtfully.

"Rangers," Zordon said. "We need to figure out what is going on. Who are you and what are you doing in this time?"

The teens looked up a Zordon.

"Well…" Conner said, glancing back at Dr. Oliver.

Dr. Oliver nodded and Conner took a deep breath.

"We're from the future," he said.

"What?" Zach exclaimed. "Like time travel? Why would you want to come here?"

"We didn't exactly do it on purpose," Ethan said. "We were in the middle of a fight and things went, well, wrong."

"So why are you still here?" Jason asked.

"We're trying to track some things down," Conner answered. "But it's a little harder than we thought it would be."

"What are you trying to track down?" Kim asked. "Is it something we can help with?"

"No," Conner said, shaking his head. "We're trying to just lay low until we can get out of here."

"Yeah," Ethan said. "And the technology today is horrible for doing anything."

"Ethan," Kira said, rolling her eyes. "Deal with it. You can get your computer fix when we get back home."

"But there isn't even a decent cell phone," Ethan grumbled. "I mean, how are we even supposed to—"

"Umm… Ethan," Trent said, poking him in the arm. "You're making the black ranger mad… He's glaring at you underneath his helmet…"

Ethan turned around. Dr. Oliver was looking at him, arms still crossed.

"Sorry," he muttered, turning back around.

"Wait a minute," Jason said, looking at Conner. "I thought you were the leader of this team."

"I am," Conner said defensively.

"Then why do all of you keep looking back at him?" said Jason.

"He's our mentor," Conner said. "Ouch!"

His head jerked forward as Dr. Oliver smacked him in the back of the head.

"Right, sorry," said Conner, rubbing his head. "Forget I said that. It's hard to remember what I can and can't say. It would be so much easier if we could just—"

Dr. Oliver growled and Conner stopped talking.

"He made a noise!" Zach exclaimed.

"Duh," Kira said. "He can talk you know."

"Then why doesn't he?" Zach asked. "And why is he still morphed?"

"Well… Because he doesn't," Kira said, looking over her shoulder. "And he's—well, he—"

"He's stuck," Conner blurted out.

The teens all groaned, shaking their heads. Dr. Oliver let out a sigh.

"Stuck?" Billy said, taking a step toward Dr. Oliver. "Is there something I can—"

Dr. Oliver held up a hand to stop Billy. The blue ranger nodded and stayed where he was, frowning.

"He's not stuck," Kira said.

"Well, he better not be," Conner muttered. "Not after everything that happened the last time."

"Last time?" Trini said.

"Conner," Kira said, glaring at him. "Anyways, he's not stuck. He just isn't de-morphing."

"Why not?" Tommy asked.

"Doesn't he trust us?" Kim said.

The Dino Thunder team exchanged glances and then they all turned to look at Dr. Oliver. He groaned, putting on hand to his head in frustration. The not talking was starting to drive him nuts.

"Sorry," Conner said. "It's a lot harder when you don't say anything. I mean, you usually explain everything and—"

Dr. Oliver straightened up and clapped a hand on Conner's shoulder. Conner looked up at him as Dr. Oliver transported both of them out of the room. The other three sighed, shaking their heads and looking at each other.

"Should we go after them?" Trini asked.

"No," Kira sighed. "They'll be back."

"So if the black ranger usually does the talking, then why isn't he talking now?" Tommy asked. "And why did he leave the command center to talk to Conner?"

"It's—complicated," Trent said, shrugging.

A moment later, Conner and Dr. Oliver reappeared. Dr. Oliver was gripping Conner's arm rather tightly.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Conner exclaimed. "Geez, I got the point. You can let go now."

Dr. Oliver let go of Conner's arm and returned to his place behind the team.

"You're just as bad as Hay—" Conner started to say.

Dr. Oliver let out a low growl again, starting to step forward.

"Tech! I mean Tech!" Conner recovered, flinching.

Conner took a deep breath and turned back to the original rangers.

"Anyways," he said, glancing nervously over his shoulder. "There's a lot we can't tell you. But we aren't here to hurt you and we're going to stay out of your way as much as possible."

"Why can't you tell us anything?" Jason asked.

"Rangers," Zordon said. "They cannot tell us anything for fear of disrupting the time stream."

"Right," Billy said. "If they mess something up in this present, then their present might never come to exist. Which means they would most likely cease to exist themselves."

The group stared at Billy for a moment.

"You make my head hurt even more now than you usually do," Conner muttered. "And no, I'm not explaining myself."

All of the rangers were silent for a moment. The original team was looking at the Dino Thunder team, trying to figure out how to take them.

"So how are you going to get back to your time?" Tommy asked after a moment.

"Hopefully the same way we got here," Conner said. "But, like I said, tracking it down hasn't been easy."

An alarm started going off. The Dino Thunder team, except for Dr. Oliver, all jumped, looking around in surprise. Dr. Oliver immediately moved to the viewing globe.

"What is it, Zordon?" Trini asked.

"Rangers," he said. "Observe the viewing globe. A new monster is attacking Angel Grove. Goldar and Scorpina are with him."

Both teams looked into the viewing globe. The Dino Thunder rangers exchanged glances. It was Tick-Tock. He had finally shown up. But it looked like Rita was about to catch him.

"We'll have to finish this later," Jason said. "We've got to stop them."

"We're coming with you," Conner said. "And we aren't taking no for an answer."

"Sensors indicate the monster is called Tick-Tock," Alpha said before Jason could argue. "But the readings are strange."

"Be careful, rangers," Zordon said.

"We will," Jason said. "It's Morphin' Time!"

The two ranger teams arrived to find Tick-Tock rampaging through the park. He was surrounded by putties, Goldar and Scorpina watching from a distance.

"There you are, rangers," Tick-Tock said, catching sight of them. "It's about time you showed up. I was beginning to think you'd lost track of time."

"Yeah right, Tick-Tock," Conner said, taking the lead. "You might have gotten away for a little while, but you won't get the best of us this time."

As the two ranger teams charged, the putties attacked them. The rangers split up, fighting their way toward Tick-Tock. Laughing, Scorpina and Goldar disappeared, thinking to let Tick-Tock do their dirty work. Knowing they had to reach Tick-Tock first to stop the other rangers from destroying him, the Dino rangers fought hard. But the original team reached him first, pulling out their power blasters and shooting at him.

"Back to the beginning!" Tick-Tock yelled, hitting the button on top of his watch.

The two ranger teams arrived to find Tick-Tock rampaging through the park. He was surrounded by putties, Goldar and Scorpina watching from a distance.

"There you are, rangers," Tick-Tock said, catching sight of them. "It's about time you showed up. I was beginning to think you'd lost track of time."

"We're not playing this game again," Conner yelled, charging forward.

The Dino Thunder team charged Tick-Tock as the original rangers started falling into the same pattern as last time. They fought through the putties and moved to attack Tick-Tock.

"Forget it!" Ethan yelled as they pulled out their blasters. "He'll just reset the fight again. It's that watch!"

The original rangers stopped, looking at the other team in surprise. Taking the lead, Conner led the Dino Thunder team in to confront Tick-Tock. They attacked without weapons, the five rangers working together to take on the monster. Conner dove for the watch, hoping to reset it to send them forward. But Tick-Tock saw him coming and swung the watch, catching Conner with it and sending him flying backward. Conner grunted as he hit the ground, but he rolled and ran straight back to the fight.

"Back to the beginning!" Tick-Tock yelled, hitting the button on top of his watch.

The two ranger teams arrived to find Tick-Tock rampaging through the park. He was surrounded by putties, Goldar and Scorpina watching from a distance.

"There you are, rangers," Tick-Tock said, catching sight of them. "It's about time you showed up. I was beginning to think you'd lost track of time."

The Dino Thunder team didn't even pause this time. They just ran straight for him. Putties swarmed them, slowing the team down.

"That's enough!" Jason snapped, getting irritated with the resets. "We're gonna have to hit him from all sides. Take him out quickly."

"Got it!" the other originals agreed, splitting up.

Letting the Dino Thunder team deal with the putties, they moved to surround Tick-Tock, each of them pulling out their power weapon.

"Now!" Jason yelled.

Dr. Oliver heard his yell and spun around to see the six rangers converging on Tick-Tock. And Jason was aiming straight for the pocket watch. Without hesitating, Dr. Oliver sprinted to stop them.

"Jason, no!" he yelled, leaping in the way of Jason's strike.

Jason looked around in shock, thinking he had heard Tommy yelling. But Tommy was still charging the monster. Jason looked back up in time to see the black Dino ranger leap in the way of his attack. Dr. Oliver took a direct hit from Jason's power sword and went flying backward as the other original rangers struck Tick-Tock. Landing hard, Dr. Oliver de-morphed. He started to push himself up to his knees, but collapsed, unconscious. The other rangers' attacks hit Tick-Tock from behind, finding his weak spot and destroying him.

"Dr. O!" the four teens screamed, forgetting about not using his name.

They ran toward him, ignoring the other rangers. Conner got there first, dropping down next to Dr. Oliver and putting a hand on the back of his shoulder. He shook him lightly, trying to get a response.

"Dr. O!" he said as the other three joined him. "Come on. Get up."

"Wake up, Dr. O," Kira said. "We can't get out of here without you."

He didn't stir. Billy ran up behind them. Kneeling down next to the teens, he helped roll Dr. Oliver over and got his first glimpse of the other ranger's face.

"Tommy?" he said in shock, staring down at Dr. Oliver.

"What is it Billy?" Tommy asked as he and the other rangers came running over.

When he saw Dr. Oliver's face he froze, just staring in complete shock. Kim glanced between the two Tommy's for a moment, and then she passed out. No one noticed because the rest of the rangers were still staring at Dr. Oliver.

"What's going on?" Jason demanded.

"Doesn't matter right now," Conner snapped. "We need to get him out of here. Now!"

"Right," Billy said, shaking himself. "Let's take him back to the command center. We can talk more there."

"And don't forget her," Ethan said, nodding to Kim.

"Oh, yeah," Zach said, picking her up. "Ooph. She's heavy for a small girl."

With the original rangers standing in a circle around the unconscious Dr. Oliver and the Dino Rangers, they all teleported back to the command center.


	8. Discussions

Back at the command center, they laid Dr. Oliver on one of the cots while Billy and Alpha started running scans. De-morphed now, the four teens clustered around his cot. Tommy was standing nearby, just staring, while the other four original rangers were talking on the other side of the room.

"You've got to wake up, Dr. O," Conner muttered. "We all need you."

"How are we going to get home now?" Kira said, trying not to panic. "I don't even know where to go from here. What if he doesn't wake up?"

"He always wakes up," Trent said, trying to reassure her, and himself.

Jason and the others came back over to confront the teens.

"Alright," he said. "What happened? What was he thinking?!"

"Hey!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Sorry, bro," Jason said. "Not you. Him. Even if—never mind. What was he thinking jumping in front of me like that? Is he stupid? I could have killed him!"

"He's not stupid!" Conner yelled, jumping to his feet.

Kira leapt up after him, grabbing Conner's arm to stop him from launching himself at Jason. Conner stopped, but he was still tense and ready to react.

"He was saving your stupid butt," Kira snapped, glaring at Jason.

"Yeah," Ethan said, standing up, followed by Trent. "If he hadn't gotten in the way, all of you, and probably us, would have been sent even further back in time."

The four teens were all standing between the original rangers and Dr. Oliver now. Billy and Alpha both stepped away from the unconscious ranger as tension started rising in the room. The four Dino teens were standing ready to defend their teammate and mentor if necessary.

"What?" Trini said.

"That's how we ended up here in the first place," Trent said. "I was distracting him and they shot the watch with the Z-Rex blaster. It caused an explosion that amped up the time travel powers…"

"It didn't work like we thought it would," Ethan admitted. "But if you had gotten sent back, who knows if you ever would have made it home. We probably won't…"

"Why not?" Jason asked.

"Because you guys destroyed our way home!" Kira snapped. "Reversing Tick-Tock's pocket watch was the only way we knew to get back to our time."

Jason took a step toward the team. He was frustrated and getting angry with the lack of answers. Kira didn't back down, letting go of Conner and crossing her arms in front of her as she glared at Jason.

"That doesn't matter right now!" Jason snapped back. "You four need to start talking. Now!"

Conner stepped forward in front of the rest of his team, getting back in Jason's face. The other three stepped up behind him.

"Back off," Conner snarled. "You're the reason Dr. O is unconscious."

"He jumped in the way. And besides, how do we even know who he really is. What did you do?" Jason demanded as Conner stood in his way, arms crossed in front of him. "Did you clone Tommy? How is it that your so-called mentor looks just like one of us?"

"We're not telling you anything until he wakes up," Conner said, glaring at Jason. "And I don't even think we'll tell you then. I heard a lot of great things about you, but—"

Losing his temper, Jason pushed Conner backward into the other three. They grabbed him before he could tackled Jason.

"No!" Jason yelled. "You're done hiding things from us. You don't belong here and you're going to explain yourselves or—"

"Mm… Your temper never does change, does it Jase?" Dr. Oliver said groggily.

"Dr. O!" the teens exclaimed, turning to look at him.

Dr. Oliver was sitting up on the cot, rubbing his head.

"You're alive!" Conner said.

Dr. Oliver sighed. He swung his legs around to put his feet on the floor.

"Yes, Conner," he said. "I'm alive."

"We were starting to think you were in a coma again," Ethan said.

Dr. Oliver just groaned.

"No," he said. "I'm fine."

"He's awake," Jason said. "Now tell us what's going on. No more dodging."

"I'm not a clone, if that's what you're thinking," Dr. Oliver said, standing up. "Which, knowing you, is probably accurate."

Jason didn't say anything, he just glared at Dr. Oliver. The Dino teens relaxed slightly, but they stayed together. This wasn't their headquarters and that put them at a disadvantage. With Dr. Oliver up, the original rangers stepped back a little, waiting to see what he would do.

"Should we be telling them anything, Dr. O?" Kira asked, glancing over at the originals.

"Probably not," he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Are you really Tommy?" Kim asked, looking back and forth between the two Tommys.

"I would have thought that was fairly obvious after I de-morphed," Dr. Oliver said, raising an eyebrow.

"But—how?" she said.

"We already told you we're from the future," Conner said. "We can't tell you anything else. Right Dr. O?"

"I don't know yet," Dr. Oliver said in frustration. "How long have I been here?"

"Umm… I don't know," Conner said, looking at his teammates.

They all shrugged.

"Our watches stopped, remember?" Ethan said.

"Roughly thirty minutes," Billy said.

"Thank you, Billy," Dr. Oliver said. "And what did I miss?"

The teens exchanged glances.

"Dr. O," Kira finally said. "Tick-Tock is gone… We don't have a way home anymore…"

"Don't worry, Kira," Dr. Oliver said, taking a deep breath. "We'll figure it out."

"We're doomed," Ethan muttered. "We're all going to die."

Dr. Oliver put a hand on Ethan's shoulder.

"Ethan," said Dr. Oliver. "We're not going to die. Obviously we haven't changed the time stream too much. Because the four of you are still here and I'm—well, nothing has happened to me yet."

"Yet!" Conner exclaimed. "So we are gonna die."

Kira punched Conner in the shoulder, making him wince.

"You aren't going to die, Conner," Dr. Oliver said, glaring at him. "We'll figure this out."

"Hey," Jason snapped. "We still need answers. What's going on?"

He stepped forward again, wanting answers.

"I can't tell you anything else," Dr. Oliver answered. "Not without risking their lives. We haven't changed anything drastically yet, but if we do, Kira, Conner, Trent, and Ethan may never become rangers and disappear."

"I vote for not disappearing," Ethan said.

"Yeah," the other three chorused.

"Tommy," Zordon said.

"Yes?" Tommy and Dr. Oliver answered.

There was a pause as the two Tommys looked at each other and at Zordon.

"This is going to be confusing," Trini said quietly, looking over at the teens.

"You have no idea," Conner said. "Just wait til you guys have to deal with his clone. Talk about confusing."

Kira kicked him as Ethan and Trent both smacked him on an arm.

"Conner!" Dr. Oliver snapped without turning around.

"Sorry, Dr. O," Conner said.

"How did he hear us?" Trini asked in surprise.

"Who knows?" Ethan said with a shrug. "He knows just about everything. And if he doesn't, Tech does. We don't get away with anything."

"Dr. Oliver," Zordon finally said.

"Yes, Zordon," Dr. Oliver said, taking a step forward and pausing for a moment. "It's good to see you again, old friend. It's been too long."

"What does that mean?" Jason asked, frowning.

Dr. Oliver tensed up, but didn't answer. The Dino teens spoke up quickly before Jason could push the issue.

"Don't even go there," Conner warned. "Believe me. You don't want to touch that subject. Just leave it alone."

Jason looked confused, but he didn't say anything and Dr. Oliver relaxed again.

"There may be a way for us to return you to your time," Zordon said. "And keep the time stream from altering anymore than it already has."

"How?" Dr. Oliver asked. "We can't stay here. But the only way I have of returning us is gone."

"Billy," Zordon said. "Can you create a device that would allow them to return home? For it appears that their presence here has already occurred in their time, which means such a device must be possible."

"Perhaps," Billy said, looking up a Zordon. "I have been doing research, and I believe I can create a device that will block certain neurotransmitters in the memory receptacle of the brain using audio and visual stimulation. Also there is a possibility of connecting the transporter into the time space continuum and correcting the fluctuation in the time stream flow that brought the rangers here in the first place."

Everyone just stared at Billy, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Dr. Oliver sighed.

"He thinks he can block your memories," he said before Trini could say anything. "And use the transporter to send us home."

"Oh," said Zach. "So we wouldn't remember anything?"

"Not until the time at which the fluctuation is corrected," Billy said.

Everyone stared at him again.

"You wouldn't remember anything until we were back in our own time, where this all started," Dr. Oliver said.

"Since when do you speak Billy?" Zach asked.

Billy glared at him, but didn't say anything. Dr. Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"I do have a PhD," Dr. Oliver said. "That's why they call me Dr. O."

The originals all glanced over at Tommy, who was just as surprised as they were. He stared at Dr. Oliver.

"If we won't remember anything after they leave, does that mean we can have answers now?" Jason asked.

"I'm not sure," Dr. Oliver said, looking back at Zordon.

"Don't worry," Zordon said. "We will find a way to keep anything from happening to you."

"Alright," Dr. Oliver said, taking a deep breath. "I guess we might as well just go for it then."

He turned to face the group, but before he could say anything, Ethan interrupted.

"Wait a minute!" Ethan said. "We're the ones who are gonna disappear if this doesn't work."

"You'll disappear from here, yes," Dr. Oliver said. "But you've already been born, so you'll still be alive. You just may not become power rangers. I could end up dead."

"Ok, I agree with them," Tommy said, pointing at the Dino Thunder rangers. "This is a bad idea. We should just leave it alone."

"Don't worry, Tommy," Billy said. "This will work. I will just need some time."

"Well, we're not going anywhere," Conner grumbled.

"Anyways," Dr. Oliver said. "What do you want to know?"

The originals all started talking at once. Dr. Oliver listened for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"Alright!" he yelled over them. "Enough!"

Everyone was quiet. Both groups stared at Dr. Oliver, waiting for him to continue.

"I forgot you're all still teenagers," he grumbled. "You each get three questions today. That's it. And one person at a time. I can't hear you over each other."

"Me first," Jason said.

Dr. Oliver looked at him expectantly.

"How did you get here?" Jason asked.

"I thought we already covered that," Conner said before Dr. Oliver could answer.

"Yeah," said Ethan. "Remember? Tick-Tock's pocket watch? Z-Rex blaster? Big explosion and poof?"

"Oh, right," Jason said. "So you still live in Angel Grove?"

"Nope," Conner said. "We all live in Reefside."

"Then how did you end up here?" Jason asked.

Dr. Oliver leaned back against the console again, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We're not sure," Dr. Oliver said. "Our best guess is that when the Z-Rex blaster hit the pocket watch, it took us back to the beginning of the power rangers instead of the fight. And that meant we needed to be here."

"Either that or back to his beginning," Ethan said, jerking his head toward Dr. Oliver. "After all, we landed here right before he joined the team. And you were just running to join the fight when it happened, Dr. O."

"It's a possibility," Dr. Oliver said.

"So how long—" Jason started to ask.

"Nope," Dr. Oliver interrupted. "You already asked your three questions."

Jason grumbled, but stayed quiet. Zach stepped forward, eager to ask his own questions.

"My turn!" Zach said. "What am I doing?"

"Well," Dr. Oliver said, smirking. "You're currently standing in front of me asking stupid questions."

"I meant in your time!" Zach protested.

"Yeah, you gotta be careful with him," Conner said. "He's really good at trick questions."

"You should've seen our last science test," Ethan said. "It was not cool. Oh! Do we still have to take that pop quiz when we get back?"

Dr. Oliver groaned, shaking his head at the off-topic discussion. But all four of the teens were looking at him expectantly.

"Yes," Dr. Oliver said. "You've had plenty of time to study."

"But Dr. O," Ethan said. "We don't have any of our books. They won't even exist for—how many years?"

"Did any of you think to ask me questions?" he said. "I did write the test."

Conner jumped up from where he was leaning on the console.

"Oh!" Conner exclaimed. "What—"

"Not now, Conner," Dr. Oliver said.

"I'm so gonna fail," Conner muttered.

He settled back into his position, watching the original rangers. Dr. Oliver turned back to address Zach.

"Anyways," said Dr. Oliver. "Zach, last time I heard you were creating choreography for Tanya and her dance crew in—somewhere. She's on tour right now. I don't remember where."

"Yes!" Zach exclaimed. "Wait. Who's Tanya? And why haven't you heard from me?"

"We fell out of touch," Dr. Oliver answered. "I'm pretty sure I lost your number after the island… And Tanya… You know what? I'm going to leave that one alone and let you keep a question because I just don't want to get into that right now."

"Alright," Zach said. "Hmm… Wait a minute. I just realized… You're a doctor!"

The Dino teens groaned. Kira rolled her eyes, shaking her head while the boys just stared at Zach like he was stupid.

"I thought we covered that, too," Trent said.

"We did," Dr. Oliver said. "I told you I have a PhD."

"Like a medical doctor?" Tommy asked, finally speaking up.

"No," Dr. Oliver said, shaking his head. "I'm a paleontologist."

A few of the rangers nodded, but Zach and Kim looked at him in confusion.

"He's a dino doctor!" Conner inserted.

"I study dinosaurs and fossils" Dr. O said, glaring at Conner.

Conner shrugged. Ethan started laughing at him.

"Yeah," Conner said. "But that's how Dr. O found the dino gems. He also created the tyrannodrones. But then everything went crazy and Mesogog got involved and the tyrannodrones started attacking everything. Then Mesogog blew up the island and Dr. O almost didn't jump off in time and then had to swim all the way back and ended up in a coma—"

"Conner!" Dr. Oliver said.

Conner froze, glancing sheepishly at Dr. Oliver.

"Oops," Conner said. "Sorry Dr. O."

"Coma?" Trini said. "You were in a coma?"

"Comas," Ethan corrected, emphasizing the plural.

"What?" Kim exclaimed. "How many comas have you been in?"

Dr. Oliver groaned, glaring at Ethan now.

"Three," he answered reluctantly.

Tommy paled. He swayed and leaned back against the console. Kim looked at him in concern, but he shook his head.

"Yeah, and one of them not that long ago," Ethan said. "He really was stuck morphed for a while then and ended up in the coma. But he still saved our butts."

"What?" Trini said.

"How did becoming stuck in his morphed form lead to a coma?" Billy asked.

"Well, there was this slimy stuff that finally got him to de-morph," Conner said. "Still not really sure what it was, but it worked. But then he was stuck invisible."

"Don't forget the amber," Ethan interrupted. "That's how he got stuck morphed in the first place."

Dr. Oliver started rubbing his forehead, muttering to himself about a headache.

"Right," Conner continued. "He was trapped in amber and then when we got him out he couldn't de-morph and once he was finally de-morphed he was stuck invisible which was really not a whole lot of fun cause we couldn't keep track of him and then he came up with the brilliant idea to shock himself out of it and then his dino gem broke and he went into a coma."

"Yeah," Ethan said, jumping in when Conner paused to take a breath. "But he wasn't in it for very long. I mean he only had to fight his past ranger abilities to get the Dino gem back. Although I think Hayley might still be mad about him checking himself out of the hospital while she wasn't looking."

Dr. Oliver threw his hands up in the air.

"Alright!" Dr. Oliver exclaimed, interrupting. "Enough! Conner, you wonder why I mark you down on essays? You can't even talk without using run on sentences. And no, she isn't mad at me anymore because the four of you are still alive."

The original rangers looked at the Dino Thunder team in concern.

"Why wouldn't they be?" Trini asked.

"Yeah," Zach said. "And how on earth did you get stuck in amber? Isn't that a rock?"

Dr. Oliver groaned, giving up on the limited questions. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back against the console again.

"Because they had lost their powers," he said. "The monster they were facing stole them, but they went to face him anyways. I barely got there in time to save them. And no. Amber isn't a rock. It's fossilized sap and I was trapped in it because—never mind."

He looked over at Trent and shrugged. A look of guilt flashed across Trent's face.

"I'm sorry," Trent burst out. "I didn't do it on purpose—ok, so I did but I wasn't exactly in control of myself at the time and—"

Dr. Oliver left his spot and walked over to Trent.

"Trent," Dr. Oliver said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. It actually was well planned. I wasn't a big fan of the result, but for all purposes it was a well-thought out and well-executed plan."

The original rangers all turned to stare at Trent. They looked back and forth between Tommy and Trent. Tommy moved closer to the white Dino ranger, looking at him in surprise.

"You were evil?" Tommy exclaimed.

"My Dino gem was," Trent said. "And it controlled me…"

He looked down at his feet, his shoulders slumping.

"But you aren't anymore," Dr. Oliver said firmly. "And that's what's important."

Trent looked up at Dr. Oliver and smiled faintly. Kira tucked her arm under Trent's, leaning on his shoulder.

"It's a lot less of a headache now that you're on our side," Ethan said. "You really weren't a lot of fun as an evil ranger."

"No one ever is," Dr. Oliver said drily. "Evil rangers have a tendency to wreak havoc."

"Yeah, and you should know, Dr. O," Conner said. "You were evil how many times?"

"Only twice," Dr. Oliver said, glaring at Conner. "Now knock it off. You're going to make me pass out."

"You look fine to me, Dr. O," Ethan said.

"Not me, me," Dr. Oliver said. "That me."

He pointed at Tommy, whose face was almost white. Tommy was leaning against the computer console again, clutching it tightly.

"Tommy, are you ok?" Kim asked in concern.

"I think so," he said shakily. "It's just—a lot to take in."

"Maybe you should sit down," said Kim.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Tommy mumbled, sinking down to the ground in front of the computer console.

"So you were evil twice?" Trini asked.

"Technically, yes," Dr. Oliver said. "If you count other spells and enchantments that made me do weird things, act strangely, forget people—You know what? We're just going to cut that off right there."

Tommy had his head in his hands.

"Although there was the whole thing with your clone," Conner said. "Does that count?"

"No, because I was there to fight him," Dr. Oliver answered. "And he isn't me. He's a clone."

Jason jumped forward toward Dr. Oliver.

"So there is a clone!" Jason exclaimed. "How do we know you aren't him?"

"Because he doesn't exist yet for you," he answered. "Well, technically with time travel I guess he's already dead… We did leave him in the 1700s…"

"Hey!" Conner exclaimed. "He could be one of your ancestors! Have you ever done a family tree?"

"Don't even go there, Conner," Dr. Oliver said, glaring at him again.

"Yeah, well at least he wasn't the same color as you," Ethan said. "That would have made things even more complicated."

Tommy looked up, trying to figure out what Ethan meant.

"Tommy's clone isn't green?" Kim said.

She looked over at Tommy and then back at Dr. Oliver.

"Actually, the clone was green," Dr. Oliver said. "I wasn't."

"Wait, what?" Zach said. "When do you change colors?"

Dr. Oliver looked down at himself and shook his head. Zach wasn't drawing at least one conclusion.

"Other than being the black ranger now, which time?" Dr. Oliver said. "And do you mean color or ability?"

Tommy ran a hand over his head, staring at Dr. Oliver again.

"Is there a difference?" Tommy asked.

"Yes," Dr. Oliver said.

The original rangers looked at each other in surprise.

"Ok," Zach said. "Ability, then."

Dr. Oliver thought about it for a moment before answering, frowning in concentration.

"Hmm… Five," Dr. Oliver answered.

"What?" Jason exclaimed. "Then how many colors?"

"Let's see," Dr. Oliver said, muttering to himself. "Green, white, white, red, red, black… Four colors. Green, white, red, and black. Oh. And it's actually six powers, not five."

"You should see his closet," Conner said, grinning.

Kira elbowed him again.

"Conner," Kira said. "Would you knock it off?"

"So why did you keep switching colors?" Zach asked. "Couldn't make up your mind?"

"Not exactly," Dr. Oliver said. "It tends to happen when you lose your abilities."

Tommy paled again, leaning his head back against the console.

"You lost your abilities?" Jason asked. "How many times did you do that?"

"Well, let's see," Dr. Oliver said, muttering again. "I lost that one… Twice, actually… Lost the next one, still have the one after that, and the next one. Gave away that one, and still have this one… Ok. Still have two, gave one away, and lost two. Although it's technically three times since I lost one of them twice."

Tommy sat bolt upright, staring at Dr. Oliver.

"Which one did you lose twice?" Tommy asked nervously.

"This one," Dr. Oliver said, looking at Tommy.

He leaned back against the console again, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Dr. Oliver said.

"Yeah," Ethan said. "He's living proof that you'll survive everything you go through. At least until now. Not sure what's going to happen now…"

"Ethan," Dr. Oliver said.

"Yeah, I know…" said Ethan.

"Dr. O may have been through a lot," Trent said, "but he makes it work."

Glancing over at Tommy, who was sitting by himself and trying to process everything, Trent decided to go sit next to him. But instead of walking all the way around or pushing through the group, Trent phased straight through the console and plopped down next to Tommy. He didn't say anything, but Tommy glanced up at him and gave Trent a small smile.

"How did you do that?" Zach exclaimed, staring at Trent.

"Ummm… The same way I did it when I phased into the wall when you were trying to catch me. Remember?" Trent said.

"I forgot you guys all have those freaky abilities," Zach muttered.

"Hey!" the Dino rangers, Dr. Oliver included, and Tommy all exclaimed, glaring at Zach.

"Well you have to admit," he protested. "They're not exactly normal. I mean, she screams loud enough to break—well—a lot of things I'm sure, you can walk through things, he runs fast. You… I don't actually know what you do."

Zach was looking at Ethan. Ethan grinned, laughing at Zach.

"Don't hit him," Conner answered.

"What?" Zach said, confused.

Conner sighed, shaking his head.

"Alright," Conner said. "Kira has a sonic scream and if you make her mad she might break your eardrums. Good luck catching me, I move too quickly with my super-speed. Trent can escape from just about anywhere, unless he's unconscious, with his phasing. You don't want to hit Ethan, it hurts because he has armor. And Dr. O. Well, let's just say it's really hard to get away with anything around Dr. O. The whole invisibility thing makes it really easy for him to sneak up on us when we're least expecting it…"

"Why would it hurt to hit Ethan?" Zach asked. "I mean, I don't see any armor now and I didn't see it before. It can't be that bad."

Ethan took a step toward Zach and took up a defensive position.

"Wanna test?" Ethan asked with a grin.

"Don't do it," Jason warned. "I hit him the other day. It does not feel good."

"You're no fun," Ethan muttered.

He straightened up and moved back to where he was.

"Alright," Kim interrupted. "I want to ask an actual question."

"And?" Dr. Oliver said, waiting.

Glancing between Tommy and Dr. Oliver, Kim paused for a moment.

"Am I married?" she finally blurted out.

"Yes," Dr. Oliver answered after a moment.

Kim let out a small squeal and she and Trini started talking quietly, glancing between Tommy and Dr. Oliver.

"Umm… Kim," Dr. Oliver said.

She glanced over at him. He was holding up his left hand and tapping his ring finger, which didn't have a ring on it. Kim's face turned red and she looked over at Tommy, whose face was also red. The Dino Thunder teens started laughing.

"You dated Kim?" Conner asked.

"Yes," Dr. Oliver said, glaring at Conner.

"So what about the rest of us?" Trini asked. "Are any of us married? Or have families?"

"Some of you," Dr. Oliver said. "You're married, Trini and have a son who loves red just as much as his father."

As he finished talking, Dr. Oliver looked over a Jason. Jason frowned for a moment, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Trini and Jason came to the realization at the same moment, looking at each other in surprise.

"What?" they both exclaimed, staring at each other.

The Dino teens started laughing harder. Conner almost fell over, grabbing the console to stop himself.

"Where am I at in your present?" Billy asked.

He had been quietly observing most of the discussion. But his curiosity had finally gotten the better of him.

"Well, you live on another planet," Dr. Oliver said. "You are married. And yes, your wife is an alien. But right now you should be at my house. At least you're supposed to be."

Ethan jumped up in surprise. Practically bouncing, he smiled at Dr. Oliver.

"Wait," Ethan said. "Billy is coming to visit? As in visit in person? Not just on a computer screen?"

"He's supposed to be," Dr. Oliver said.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kira exclaimed.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," he answered.

"Well way to ruin the surprise, Dr. O," Conner said.

He glared at Dr. Oliver, crossing his arms in front of him.

"You're still surprised," Dr. Oliver said. "Just not in the same way."

"So Billy lives on another planet?" Tommy said. "Oh my head hurts…"

"Yeah, sorry about all this," Trent said. "They do this a lot. But usually we're all on the same page already, so it works out in the end. Sorry again for the information overload. But if it makes you feel any better, you're my favorite teacher."

Tommy groaned, putting his head in his hands.

"Trent," Dr. Oliver said, shaking his head. "I don't think now's the time…"

"Ok, wait a minute," Zach said. "I thought you said he was your mentor, not a teacher."

"I am actually their high school science teacher," Dr. Oliver said.

"He just also happens to be our mentor," Conner said. "It works out well though. We get extra help with homework."

"But why isn't Zordon mentoring them?" Jason asked, frowning.

Dr. Oliver visibly flinched, tensing up. The teens looked at him nervously, waiting to see his reaction. Taking a deep breath, Dr. Oliver considered his response.

"After the initial threat was over," he finally said, looking straight at Zordon. "Zordon and Alpha had the chance to return home. And, in the end, he made a great sacrifice for all of us… We all miss him…"

The original rangers all looked at each other in confusion. Then Trini gasped, looking up at Zordon. Billy was looking at him, too, shock playing across his face. Dr. Oliver was still looking a Zordon, who nodded in understanding. Looking down, Dr. Oliver took a deep breath before turning around and walking back over to the rest of the Dino Thunder team. Trent stood up from his seat next to Tommy and joined them.

"It's getting late," Dr. Oliver said. "I think it's time we left. I'll be back tomorrow to help, Billy."

"Now just wait a minute," Jason said, grabbing Dr. Oliver's shoulder. "What aren't you telling us?"

Dr. Oliver shrugged off Jason's hand. The look on his face said he wasn't happy, and there was a dangerous light in his eyes.

"Just leave it," Conner snapped, stepping up to Jason. "We're going."

"Not without telling us what's going on," Jason said. "And not in some cryptic message."

"Deal with it," Conner said, not backing down.

"Alpha," Dr. Oliver said stiffly. "Would you please teleport us back to the youth center? I can't take all four of them with me."

Alpha nodded, turning around to program the teleporter. The Dino teens gathered around Dr. Oliver. Jason stepped closer again, ready to try and keep them from leaving.

"We can't let them leave without telling us the truth," Jason said, glancing around.

Kim, Zach, and Tommy were still confused, but they didn't join Jason. They didn't want to start a fight with the other team. Billy and Trini were still looking up at Zordon. Trini had started crying softly. The other rangers looked at her in confusion.

"And you can't make us stay," Conner said, glaring at Jason.

"Ready, Alpha," Dr. Oliver interrupted before a fight broke out.

Alpha hit the button, teleporting the Dino Thunder team out of the command center in a flash of color. Jason turned to Billy and Trini. He saw Trini crying.

"What's going on?" Jason demanded. "What was he talking about?"

Trini just shook her head, putting her face in her hands as she started crying harder. Without a word, she teleported out in a flash of yellow. Billy shook himself.

"There are other things to worry about," he said to Jason. "I need to get some parts from my lab for the device."

He teleported out in a flash of blue. Even more frustrated, Jason turned to Zordon.

"Zordon, what's going on?" he asked.

But Zordon just shook his head.

"It's getting late, rangers," he said. "It's time you went home."

Clenching his fists, Jason nodded. He and the others teleported home, leaving Alpha and Zordon alone in the command center.


	9. Flashback

_Hey guys! Thank you for all the feed back it's great to know you are liking it so far! :) So i have a few things i want to clear up... This story is AU so the characters will be acting a bit OOC. There will be more reasons as to why that is as the story goes on. Also so everyone knows my wonderful coauthor/roommate has a pen-name now :) hazergirl1220. So if you receive a message from her about one of your reviews don't be surprised! Anyway, now that you all know that enjoy and keep reviewing!_

Dr. Oliver didn't say anything when they got back to the youth center. He just strode off toward the truck. The teens trailed behind him in silence. They reached the truck, pausing while Dr. Oliver pulled out the keys.

"I know he's your friend, Dr.O," Conner finally said. "But Jason is way out of line."

"Drop it, Conner," Kira said. "I don't think now is the time."

"But—" Conner started to say.

"Get in the truck," Dr. Oliver snapped, climbing in the driver's seat.

The teens climbed in without another word. It was a silent trip back to the cabin. When they finally got there, everyone climbed out and headed straight inside. They stopped in the living room for a moment, talking.

"You guys hungry?" Ethan asked. "Cause I am."

"You're kidding, right?" Kira said.

"We haven't eaten since lunch," Trent said. "Besides, Conner's always hungry."

"Hey!" Conner exclaimed.

Dr. Oliver held up his hands the four teens quieted down, looking at him expectantly.

"Go make yourselves something to eat," Dr. Oliver said, running a hand through his hair. "We still have a lot of work to do before we can get home."

"Are we ever going to go home?" Kira asked. "It's been five days."

"Yeah," Ethan said. "And what if Billy's device doesn't work? Tick-Tock is gone."

"And what'll happen to our families in our present?" Trent asked. "Will we just be gone? Disappeared one day to never come back?"

"Don't worry," Dr. Oliver said. "One way or another we'll find a way home. Now go eat something and get to bed. Rita knows about us by now, so we've got to stay on guard."

Nodding, the four teens turned and headed into the kitchen. Dr. Oliver sighed, heading back for the door. But before he made it out the door, Trent popped back out of the kitchen.

"Are you coming, Dr. O?" Trent asked.

"Go ahead and eat," he answered, waving Trent back into the kitchen. "I'm going for a quick run. I'll be back soon."

Trent took a few steps toward Dr. Oliver.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Trent asked.

"No," Dr. Oliver said, shaking his head. "I won't be gone long."

"Alright, Dr. O," said Trent, disappearing back into the kitchen.

Dr. Oliver stood by the door for a moment, listening to the teens bicker in the kitchen. There was a crash as one of them dropped a pot on the floor and the voices rose. Shaking his head, Dr. Oliver stepped outside and shut the door quietly behind him. He took a deep breath and headed into the woods, trying to clear his head. Memories played through his mind. Being a power ranger in high school, working with his friends, with Zordon, and then losing all of it.

_When Tommy arrived at the place where the command center had once stood, the rest of the rangers were already there. Even the Space Rangers had arrived. Though the others seemed to be avoiding them. It had been a while since Tommy had seen any of the other rangers. The last time he had seen any of them was when he passed his Turbo power to TJ. He'd barely even talked to Jason on the phone. Billy at least had the excuse of being on another planet. He wasn't even there for the memorial, too far away to make it in time. Shrugging it off as the rest of them had been busy, Tommy shook himself and headed toward the large group. His friends and old teammates were all quiet and subdued, which was unusual. But given the circumstances, it was expected. He still couldn't believe it himself. Zordon was gone. _

_"Tommy," a voice said behind him as he looked around. _

_Tommy turned around to see Andros and the other space rangers. Andros was hesitant, and the others were looking at Tommy expectantly. Probably because they were waiting for his reaction. Tommy knew why the other rangers were avoiding Andros, but that didn't make it right. Avoiding him wouldn't change anything. _

_"Listen, Tommy," Andros said hesitantly. "I—I'm sorry—"_

_"It isn't your fault, Andros," Tommy interrupted, putting a hand on the other man's shoulder. _

_Tommy took a deep breath. _

_"Zordon knew what he was doing," he continued. "He always did. If he says—said—sacrificing himself was the only way, then we have to trust that he was right."_

_Andros nodded, the guilt was still in his expression. Looking around, Tommy could see some of the other rangers glaring in their direction. He sighed. The grudge they were holding was just going to make things worse. As the others started gathering in one place, Tommy joined them, standing in the back with the Space Rangers. They were all quiet for a few moments, every looking around as they waited for someone to say something. _

_"This is difficult," Kat finally said quietly._

_Everyone turned to look at her as she stepped out of the crowd. Tommy flinched when he saw her, but he didn't say anything. _

_"The loss of Zordon affects all of us," she continued. "He was our mentor, our teacher, and he's the reason we're all together today. He gave all of us a chance at some point, changing us all. But none of us would have had that chance if it wasn't for the original rangers."_

_Kat paused, taking a breath before she kept going. _

_"We're all grieving our loss, especially those who were with Zordon from the start. Jason, Trini, Zach, Kim, Billy. I miss him more than I thought possible. But I cannot even begin to imagine how you must feel. You were his chosen rangers, and you knew him longer than any of us. And it is thanks to his intelligence and wisdom that he has left behind a lasting legacy in you. We'll always have him, because we can look to the five of you for help whenever we need it."_

_Tommy tensed up slightly, looking down at the ground for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he tried to relax. Andros glanced over at him in concern, but Tommy just shook his head. _

_"I guess I always knew we'd have to say goodbye someday," Trini said, taking Kat's place. "That someday he'd go home. But I didn't think this would be our goodbye. I'll always be grateful for the time we had with him."_

_She started crying and Jason stepped forward, putting his arms around her. _

_"And if it wasn't for Billy," Zach added, "we wouldn't have had as much time as we did. We almost lost him once before. Looking back at what we could have lost, it makes what we had that much better."_

_Tommy winced, clenching his fists and staring down at the ground. _

_"Tommy?" Andros said softly in concern. _

_He didn't answer. Still tensed, Tommy forced himself to look up as the other rangers continued talking. _

_"Zordon would be proud of all of us if he was still here," Tanya said. "Especially the five of you he chose. It is an honor to have been chosen to carry on in your places as you've moved on to other things."_

_"No one else was as close to Zordon as you guys were," Adam said. "You were there at the beginning and, even though you didn't stay rangers through the years, I know you must be hurting more than we can imagine. And now that he is gone, I hope that future generations of power rangers can look to you, Jason, Trini, Billy, Zach, and Kim, for guidance when they need it."_

_Tommy stared firmly at the ground, studying his shoes, his whole body tense. Andros put a hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged it off. Frowning, Andros looked around at the other rangers. He stepped forward, intending to say something about Tommy, but Jason stepped in the way. _

_"We're all going to miss him," Jason said. "But we still have each other, and that's not going to change."_

_Stepping forward, Jason placed a stone in a cleared space. Zordon's name was carved into the stone, but there were no other words. His name was enough. The group started dispersing, people talking quietly amongst themselves. Tommy didn't move. He just stood where he was, staring at the stone. Jason moved back over to Andros. _

_"Sorry, Andros," he said shortly. "But I didn't think it would be appropriate for you to say anything. Given the circumstances and all."_

_Andros flinched, looking away from Jason. Tommy jerked his head around, looking at Jason as he walked away without another word. The Space Rangers gathered around Andros, glaring after Jason. _

_"Come on, Andros," Ashley said, putting an arm around his waist. "Let's go home."_

_He put his arm around her shoulder. TJ spoke into his communicator and the whole team disappeared in a flash of light. Tommy frowned and headed after Jason._

_"Hey Jase," he started to say._

_A hand on his arm stopped him._

_"Tommy," a voice said softly. _

_He stiffened, turning around to see Kim standing next to him. _

_"Can we talk?" she asked._

_"Now's not the best time," Tommy said shortly, glancing toward Jason. _

_"But I thought that, maybe we could try fixing things between us," Kim said. "I mean, it's been—"_

_"There's nothing to fix, Kimberly," Tommy snapped. "You asked me not to contact you. So I didn't. I left you alone just like you wanted me to." _

_"I know. But now—" she started to say. _

_"Like I said," Tommy said. "This isn't the best time. So drop it."_

_Kim stared at him for a moment, and then she burst into tears, taking off away from Tommy. Trini intercepted her, glaring at Tommy._

_"What's your problem, bro?" Jason snapped, storming over. "Why are you yelling at Kim?"_

_"I wasn't yel—" Tommy started to say. _

_"I know you're still upset about the whole break-up thing," Jason interrupted. "But is it really necessary to bring it up today of all days? She's already upset about Zordon, there's no reason to make her feel even worse."_

_"Jase, I didn't—" he tried again. _

_But Jason wasn't listening and just kept going. _

_"You need to go apologize to her," Jason said. "Work out your personal issues later. As in not here."_

_Tommy stiffened._

_"You know what, fine," he snapped. "Sorry."_

_Without waiting for Jason's response, Tommy took off, leaving the other rangers muttering angrily behind him as Kim continued to cry on Trini's shoulder. No one went after him. _

Grimacing, Dr. Oliver pushed himself harder. By the time he came back to the cabin, Conner, Ethan, and Trent were sprawled out in the living room fast asleep. Dr. Oliver smiled and shook his head at them. Trent was asleep upright in a chair. Obviously trying to stay up until he had gotten back. Moving quietly through the house, Dr. Oliver headed to his room, pausing briefly to listen by Kira's door. The light was off and all was quiet inside, so he kept going. He took a quick shower, and then turned off his own light, glancing at the clock.

"It's going to be a long few days," he muttered, rolling over to try and get some sleep.


	10. Day six

**DAY SIX-Wednesday**

The next afternoon, Dr. Oliver dropped off the Dino Thunder teens at the youth center before heading out to the command center. Parking the truck, he climbed out with them.

"Why do we have to stay here?" Conner grumbled. "There's nothing to do."

"You could always try the library," Dr. Oliver suggested. "They have books you can study with."

"But Dr. O," Ethan said. "We can't spend the rest of our time here in the library. We want to do something to help."

"And the best way to help is by letting Billy do what he does best," Dr. Oliver said. "Just remember to lay low. I don't want any of you catching Rita's attention. Let the other rangers do the fighting."

Dr. Oliver looked around to make sure they were alone before he teleported, using the truck as cover.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Conner said as Dr. Oliver teleported away.

"So, what do we do now?" Ethan asked, looking around.

"Guess we might as well go to the library," Kira sighed.

Billy was standing in the command center, surrounded by a pile of parts when Dr. Oliver arrived. The rest of the team was talking to Zordon, but they stopped to greet Dr. Oliver.

"Where are the others?" Trini asked.

"I left them at the youth center," Dr. Oliver answered, moving to join Billy. "They were looking for a way to entertain themselves."

"Oh!" Kim exclaimed. "We can help with that."

"Yeah," Zach said. "We'll show them around Angel Grove."

"I'm sure they'll enjoy that more than the library," Dr. Oliver said. "That was my suggestion."

The original rangers looked at Dr. Oliver in surprise. They hadn't expected that suggestion from him.

"Wow," Zach said, grinning at the younger Tommy. "Never thought I'd hear you say something like that."

Tommy stared at his older self.

"Neither did I," Tommy said.

"Let us know if you need help, Billy," said Trini.

Neither Billy nor Dr. Oliver answered. They were already busy discussing the device. The rangers teleported out of the command center, leaving them to work.

"Well, I've drawn up a few sketches," Billy said, frowning. "But I'm unclear at this juncture as to how successful this project will be."

Dr. Oliver sighed, placing a hand on Billy's shoulder.

"Don't doubt yourself, Billy," Dr. Oliver said. "You're going to do amazing things. No matter how many times I think you're finally facing something you can't do, you prove me wrong. This will be nothing compared to what you accomplish in the future."

Billy took a deep breath.

"But I've never had anyone relying on me to accomplish an undertaking of this magnitude," he said.

"Believe me," Dr. Oliver responded. "It won't be the last time something you create saves a life or fixes a problem. No one should ever underestimate you. Especially you."

Billy smiled at Dr. Oliver and then nodded, turning back to the pile of parts.

"Then let's begin," he said. "I believe we first need to assemble the auditory and visual stimulators as they will form the core of the device."

Smiling, Dr. Oliver agreed and the two began going through pieces, determining what the best parts to use were and how they should be assembled. After a while, Billy turned around to go get a tool and stopped in surprise.

"Jason," he said. "Why are you still here?"

The red ranger was in a corner, leaning against the wall and watching them. Dr. Oliver looked up at him briefly, but went back to what he was doing without a word.

"I thought I'd watch," Jason said, shrugging as he continued to watch Dr. Oliver. "Maybe lend a hand."

"We don't need any assistance with the assembly of the device at this juncture," Billy said. "But perhaps you can monitor the status of civilian welfare in the local suburban area while I am focused on the project."

"What?" Jason said, confused.

Dr. Oliver looked up at Jason.

"He wants you to watch the viewing globe and make sure Rita doesn't send a monster to attack the city," Dr. Oliver answered.

"Oh," Jason said. "I can do that."

Billy returned to working on the device and Jason situated himself by the viewing globe. He took a seat so that he could look into the globe but still watch the pair working on the device. Billy and Dr. Oliver just kept working, too focused on the project to worry about what Jason was doing.

Later that evening, the other original rangers came back to the command center. Dr. Oliver and Billy had assembled a basic structure for the device and were studying it, talking about what to do next.

"How about dinner?" Zach interrupted. "Have the two of you left the command center at all today?"

Billy and Dr. Oliver turned around to look at the other rangers, but stayed down on the floor next to the device.

"Negative," Billy said. "Neither of us has partaken in a meal since the early hours of the afternoon."

"We got caught up," Dr. Oliver said.

"Have either of you seen Jason?" Kim asked. "We haven't seen him since we left earlier."

"He's sleeping in the chair by the viewing globe," Dr. Oliver said without looking around.

Jason was still in his seat by the viewing globe, but he was leaning back and his eyes were shut. The other rangers started laughing, surprised to see him there. Jason didn't move.

"How did you know without looking?" Trini asked.

"You pick it up after being a teacher for a while," Dr. Oliver said with a shrug. "It comes in handy sometimes."

"You're gonna have eyes in the back of your head, dude," Zach said, looking at Tommy.

"Good," Tommy said. "You won't be able to sneak up on me anymore."

There was a pause and Zach and Tommy exchanged looks, and then looked back over at Jason. They grinned and both of them crept over to where he was sleeping. They stood next to him, one on each side. They both nodded. Zach poked Jason in the shoulder and he jerked, sitting bolt upright as Tommy casually kicked the chair legs back. The chair tipped over, with Jason still in it, and he landed on the floor with a thud.

"What was that for?" Jason exclaimed.

Zach and Tommy just laughed as the others rolled their eyes.

"You fell asleep, dude," Zach answered.

"Have you been here all afternoon, bro?" Tommy asked, still laughing as he helped Jason to his feet. "Why didn't you come with us?"

"I wanted to stay and watch," Jason answered, glancing over at Dr. Oliver again. "Didn't realize how late it was getting."

Dr. Oliver stood up from where he was working. Brushing his hands off, he turned to address Kim and Trini. Zach, Jason, and Tommy were still over by the viewing globe. Jason had grabbed Zach in a headlock and Tommy was laughing.

"So where did you leave the rest of my team?" Dr. Oliver asked.

"They're back at the youth center, waiting for you," Trini answered. "Said something about making sure you ate dinner."

Dr. Oliver shook his head and sighed.

"Hayley isn't even here," he muttered. "Anyways, I should get my team home for the night."

The three guys stopped what they were doing and looked over at Dr. Oliver. Jason let Zach go.

"Where are you staying?" Jason asked as he, Tommy, and Zach walked over.

"At Uncle John's cabin," Dr. Oliver answered.

"What?" Tommy exclaimed in surprise. "But, how?"

"I—we own it now. Or will," Dr. Oliver said. "I have a key."

"Oh," Tommy said. "I really should have him change the locks…"

"You won't remember," Dr. Oliver said. "I never do. Oh, I also had to dip into the savings so we could buy some food and clothes. We weren't exactly prepared to live long-term in the past."

"Great," Tommy muttered.

"Don't worry," Dr. Oliver said. "By the time you realize it's gone, you won't care anyways."

"You would know To—Uhh… This is still confusing," Zach said, shaking his head.

"Just call me Dr. Oliver," Dr. Oliver said. "I think one Tommy is enough."

"Got it, Dr. O," Zach said with a grin.

Dr. Oliver just shook his head, teleporting out of the command center. The other rangers were silent for a moment. Tommy turned back to Jason and gave him a playful shove.

"You should have come with us today, bro," Tommy said after Dr. Oliver was gone. "Kira, Trent, Conner, and Ethan are actually a lot of fun to hang out with."

Jason just shook his head. He pushed Tommy back and both of them settled back against the console.

"That's ok," he said. "I think it was better that I was here. Maybe tomorrow."

"So a nap's more important than spending time with us?" Zach said, grinning.

"Not getting old and tired already, are you Jase?" Tommy asked, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"Not too old to take you on," Jason answered, pushing Tommy back again.

"Bring it on," Tommy said.

Still bickering back and forth, they teleported out of the command center.

"Boys," Trini said, sharing a look with Kim.

"What?" Zach said.

But Kim and Trini just laughed and disappeared. Zach shrugged and teleported out as well, Billy leaving not long after.


	11. day eight

**DAY EIGHT-Friday**

Two days later Billy and Dr. Oliver were still working on the device. The Dino teens hung out at the youth center or the park while the originals were in school. Come afternoon though, the spent time with the other team around Angle Grove.

"So what are we gonna do today, Dr. O?" Ethan asked as they arrived at the youth center. "Please don't say Kim gets to pick again."

Dr. Oliver parked the truck and they all climbed out. He laughed to himself, remembering long afternoons at the mall with Kim. The kids all looked at him expectantly.

"I have no say over who picks," he said. "All I ask is that you stay out of trouble."

"I refuse to take another trip to the mall," Kira said. "We were there all afternoon and I didn't even make it into the music store."

"Spending another day wandering around Angel Grove for the grand tour, like we did the day before yesterday, isn't high on the list either," Trent added.

"And please don't tell us to go to the library again," Conner said. "We were there all morning yesterday, waiting for the other rangers to get out of school. Boring."

Dr. Oliver shook his head, smiling. Locking the truck, he turned back to the group.

"Well, you're coming with me," Dr. Oliver said, looking at Ethan.

Conner perked up, looking extremely excited.

"We are?" Conner exclaimed.

"No," said Dr. Oliver, shaking his head. "Just Ethan. Billy and I are going to need an extra set of hands today and Ethan knows what he's doing with computers."

Conner slumped again, grumbling.

"So Ethan gets to help while we sit around and do nothing?" Conner asked. "For the third day in a row?"

"I know it's tough sitting out," Dr. Oliver said. "But if you're really frustrated with me, there I am. Why don't you go spar with me? Take out your frustration that way."

The teens looked over to see Jason and Tommy approaching the youth center. They had their backpacks, so they had just gotten out of school. The others weren't with them. His eyes lighting up, Conner took off.

"Great idea, Dr. O!" said Conner, heading in their direction.

Kira and Trent followed him. They were shaking their heads at Conner. Ethan watched them go, and then looked back at Dr. Oliver.

"Can I go with them?" Ethan asked. "I want to—"

"No you don't," Dr. Oliver said. "Trust me. You don't really want to. I was a third degree black belt freshman year."

Ethan looked at him in confusion for a moment, and then he started grinning. Laughing, he looked after Conner and the other two.

"Any chance I can use the viewing globe at the command center?" he asked.

Dr. Oliver put a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll have to ask Zordon," Dr. Oliver answered as he teleported them away.

Conner, Trent, and Kira caught up to Jason and Tommy as they walked into the youth center.

"Tommy! Jason!" Conner called.

They looked around, stopping to wait for the three Dino Thunder rangers.

"What's up guys?" Tommy asked.

"Well, we don't want to spend another day at the library or mall," Kira started to say.

"So we thought we could spar with you guys," Conner interrupted. "You show us some of your moves, we'll show you some of ours."

Jason and Tommy exchanged looks. They grinned at each other.

"Why not?" Tommy said.

"Great!" Conner said. "Tommy. You and me."

"Alright," Tommy said, heading inside. "You're on."

Trent, Conner, and Kira went straight inside. Tommy started to follow, but Jason stopped him.

"I'll meet you guys inside in a few minutes," Jason said. "Just want to go check on something."

"Ok, bro," Tommy said. "Don't fall asleep somewhere this time."

"Yeah, right," Jason said. "I'm coming back to kick their butts."

Laughing, Tommy followed the other three into the youth center as Jason teleported away.

Jason arrived at the command center in time to see Dr. Oliver heading toward the generator room. Billy was sitting on the floor, frowning at the device. So Jason followed Dr. Oliver to see what he was doing. Dr. Oliver rummaged around in some parts, looking for something. Finding it, he turned around and looked right at Jason, who had been trying to stay out of sight. The stared at each other for a moment.

"You don't trust me," Dr. Oliver stated.

There was a pause, neither of them speaking. Jason looked at Dr. Oliver and shrugged.

"You don't have to trust me, Jason," Dr. Oliver said when Jason didn't speak. "I know how you feel. I've been there."

"I don't think you do," Jason snapped. "You couldn't possibly understand how I feel."

Dr. Oliver sighed.

"Just try and remember to trust your friends," he said. "Don't forget about them, because you never know when you're going to need their help. One day you might turn around, and discover you let the mistrust go for to long. Trust me you will regret it."

Without waiting for Jason's response, Dr. Oliver headed back to the main room to keep working on the device. Jason stayed where he was for a few moments, frowning after Dr. Oliver. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and teleported back to the youth center. Out in the hallway, Dr. Oliver paused. Jason hadn't changed much since he was a teenager. Just as stubborn and apt to jump to conclusions. He hadn't seen him in a few years. Hadn't even talked to him since the moon mission.


	12. Moon Mission

_Hey thanks again for all the feedback and reviews! We have received a few questions i thought i would answer quick... The first was asking about why Jason would trust the young Tommy but not the Tommy form the future and the reason we have for that is simple... he doesn't understand how the two Tommys could be so different. Tommy from MMPR was new to town a young man who has some self confidence issues that Jason could relate to and understand, as a leader he could help fix them. Dr. O on the other hand has grown and changed he is now the leader of the Power Rangers something Jason has always seen as his role. He is young and doesn't understand as much as he thinks he does so he is suspicious of the Tommy from the future. The other thing i would like to point out is that we are playing a little more on the emotional side everyone is holding grudges and that will come up more later in the story. Just remember we do have a plan and they are just in for the ride so hold on! :) Keep reviewing!_

Out in the hallway, Dr. Oliver paused. Jason hadn't changed much since he was a teenager. Just as stubborn and apt to jump to conclusions. He hadn't seen him in a few years. Hadn't even talked to him since the moon mission.

_Tommy paced back and forth outside._

_ "Why am I doing this again?" he muttered, then he sighed. "If it was anything but Serpentara, I wouldn't be here… Guess I'd better head in. I did call them after all."_

_ Pausing just outside the door, Tommy heard Andros talking to the others about him._

_ "We were all assembled by a veteran ranger, our leader for this mission," Andros said. _

_ "Leader?" Cole asked. _

_ "Man, Andros," Tommy said, walking in and interrupting. "You're making me sound old."_

_ TJ started laughing as Andros smiled. _

_ "Who's that?" Cole asked in confusion._

_ TJ laughed harder. _

_ "That's Tommy," TJ answered. "The red Zeo Power Ranger. He's a legend." _

_ "And you make me sound oh so humble, TJ," Tommy said, shaking his head. "Anyways, thank you guys for coming on short notice."_

_ "So, what's going on?" Wes asked. "The call sounded urgent."_

_ "I was hoping this day would never come," Tommy said. _

I was really, really hoping this day would never come, _Tommy thought. _This is not going to go well...

_ "Andros has recently tracked down the remains of the evil machine empire," Tommy continued. _

_ "But I though the Zeo Rangers destroyed them years ago," TJ said, frowning. _

_ "We destroyed their leaders, but some of their generals managed to survive," Tommy said. "They've been hiding all these years. The finally regrouped their forces and are amassing on the moon—preparing to invade earth." _

_ "The moon?" Cole exclaimed. "So, how are we supposed to get there to stop them?" _

_ Andros stepped forward, smiling as he clicked a remote, powering up his new spaceship._

_ "In this," he said proudly. "I present the Astro Megaship Mark II, fresh off the construction yards of KO-35, the fastest spaceship in the galaxy." _

_ "Please, Andros," TJ said with a grin. "Don't hold back anything. You can tell us the truth."_

_ Andros glared at TJ, who just kept smiling as he laughed at his teammate. Tommy glared at them both._

_ "Guys," Tommy said, interrupting. "This is going to be a very dangerous mission, but I can't force you to go."_

Even though I'm forcing myself to go…_he thought._

_ All of the rangers watched him, quieting down. They all had serious looks on their faces, ready to get down to business. _

_ "This is a decision you have to make on your own," Tommy finished. _

_ Cole stepped forward, looking around._

_ "I don't know much about…spaceships or this machine empire," he said. "But I will go wherever I must to protect the earth." _

And now I know where to go for inspirational speeches, _Tommy thought. _Please tell me I didn't sound that corny when I was leading…

_ "Same goes for us," Wes said, Eric nodding in agreement. _

_ "Count me in," Carter said. _

_ "It's not even a question," said TJ._

_ "Then it's settled," Andros said._

_ "Let's do it," said Tommy. _

_ The group of red rangers started toward the ship._

_ "Oh, wait. Wasn't there another red ranger here on earth?" Andros asked, pausing. "Oh. Wait, sorry—"_

_ He looked at Tommy apologetically, remembering too late who the other ranger was. Tommy put a hand on Andros' shoulder. _

_ "I was hoping he'd show up," Tommy interrupted, shaking his head, "but I guess he couldn't make it. We'll have to go on without him." _

I'm pretty sure he wants nothing to do with me anyways, _he sighed internally. _

_ The sound of a motorcycle caught their attention. _

_ "Guys!" Cole exclaimed, rushing outside. _

_ The red rangers followed him outside, waiting as the final ranger pulled up on his motorcycle. He parked, pulling off his helmet. _

I really didn't think he'd come, _Tommy thought. _He didn't answer the phone when I called. Maybe he doesn't hate me after all.

_ "Jason," Tommy said, nodding to him as he climbed off of his bike._

_ "You guys weren't going to do this without me, were you?" Jason asked, walking over to the group._

_ He studied them for a moment, stopping in front of Cole. _

_ "So," Jason said. "You must be the new guy." _

_ Cole froze for a moment, then wiped his hands on his jeans before holding one hand out to shake Jason's. _

_ "Hi, I'm Cole," he said. _

_ Jason looked at his hand, but didn't take it. _

_ "Good," Jason said, shaking his head as he walked away from Cole, moving toward Tommy. "I recognize some of you guys. Some of you, uh, more than others." _

_ Jason stopped in front of Tommy and they studied each other for a moment. _

Maybe this will work, _Tommy thought. _Maybe he's ready to talk to me again.

_ "I was starting to wonder whether you'd show up at all," Tommy said. _

_ "You didn't think I was going to let you do this without the original red ranger, did you?" said Jason._

So much for showing up for my sake, _Tommy thought. _He just wants to be the leader. Well, maybe we can still figure this out.

_Jason and Tommy clasped hands, smiling tentatively at each other. _

_"Let's get going," Tommy said, leading the way back inside the hanger. _

_ As soon as they were all on board, the ship took off. The rangers all headed into the briefing room and took their seats. Tommy remained standing. They waited a few moments for Andros to come in. _

_ "I contacted Leo on Mirinoi and Aurico on Aquitar," Andros said, joining them. "They'll be here as soon as they can." _

_ He stopped next to Tommy, taking position leaning against the console. _

_ "Good," Tommy said, nodding. _

_ Alpha walked over to Tommy. _

_ "It's all ready, Tommy," said Alpha._

_ Tommy nodded, pulling out a remote. _

_ "Let's get started," said Tommy, turning on a video projector. "Several years ago, the machine empire emerged from deep space and tried to invade earth. Myself and the other Zeo rangers succeeded in stopping the invasion by destroying their leader, King Mondo, and most of the empire with him. But now the last surviving members of the machine empire have regrouped under the command of General Vinjix and are gathering here, in the sea of tranquility on the moon." _

_ "It looks like they're digging something there," Wes said. "Well, what would they want on the moon?" _

_ "Serpentera," Jason said before Tommy could answer._

Ok, thank you Jason, _Tommy thought, giving Jason a look. _Moving on.

_ "Years ago, when Lord Zedd was defeated," Tommy continued. "His personal zord remained hidden on the surface of the moon." _

_ Tommy paused as Andros stepped forward to explain his part in everything. _

_ "But I spent the last few years trailing General Vinjix," Andros said. "Just recently, he discovered the hidden location of Serpentara." _

_ "If the machine empire gets their hands on Serpentara," Jason interrupted again. "They're going to have more than enough power to destroy earth." _

Again, thank you Jason, _Tommy muttered in his head. _We wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case. That's the whole reason I called all of you.

_Cole leaned forward, looking around at the others. _

Oh please tell me the rookie isn't going to make another speech…

_ "We have to stop them here, on the moon," Cole said. "We're the only chance earth has." _

_ Tommy sighed, running a hand through his hair. _

_ "This is gonna be a long trip," he muttered quietly to Andros._

_ Andros nodded in agreement. The rangers spent the rest of the trip discussing strategy. When they arrived, they got immediately down to the business of stopping the generals. The mission ended well, and after the fight was over the rangers headed back to the ship._

_ "I gotta admit, well done rookie," Jason said to Cole as they walked. _

_ Tommy was still shaking his head after watching Cole's stunt. It had destroyed Serpentara, but it hadn't been the smartest move in the world._

Did we all do stupid things like that when we were leaders? _He thought to himself. _He could have gotten himself killed.

_ The trip back to earth was uneventful, except for Cole going through the fight over and over again. Once they were back on earth, they disembarked. Outside the hanger, they stopped for a moment. Tommy looked around at the rest of them. _

_ "Thank you rangers," Tommy said to the group. "You've done a great service to the entire universe." _

_ "Don't mention it, bro," Jason said with a grin._

_ Tommy groaned inwardly._

And now it's time to go, _he thought. _

_ "I guess it's time to say goodbye again," said Tommy, looking at Jason and then at the rest of the rangers. "May the power protect you all." _

_ Turning and walking away, Tommy caught a glimpse of Jason glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. He probably thought Tommy had stolen his line. But Tommy didn't pause, heading for his jeep. It was time to go home. He had another place to be. _

_ "Wow, so that was Tommy," he heard Cole saying. "He really is the greatest ranger." _

_ "Yeah right," Jason laughed._

_ Tommy grimaced, apparently they didn't realize how closely he was parked and that he could still hear them. _

_ "Well, I wouldn't go that far," TJ teased. "After all, I was the one that replaced him." _

_ "Are you kidding me?" Jason scoffed. "I was the one doing all the work while he was at the juice bar kissing on Kimberly." _

_ Tommy flinched, pulling out his car keys as the other rangers continued their banter. _

_ "At least his haircut's regulation," Carter said._

_ "Yeah, my Q-Rex would eat his dragonzord for lunch," Eric said as the others laughed. _

_ "He never discovered new galaxies," Leo added._

_ "Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait," said Wes. "I changed history. So why does he have a fan club and I don't?" _

_ Tommy rolled his eyes, unlocking his jeep. _

_ "Hey, I saved two worlds! What about that?" Andros said. _

_ Tommy glanced back over at the group to see Jason glaring at Andros, who just glared back. _

_ "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," TJ said, trying to lighten the mood. "Did I ever tell you guys about the time I got bake in that giant pizza?" _

_ "Speaking of pizza," Cole said. "I'm hungry."_

_ "Why don't we all go get lunch?" Leo suggested. "I don't make it to earth very often."_

_ "That would be great!" Cole exclaimed. _

_ "Sure," Jason agreed. "But wait for me. I gotta talk to Tommy for a minute."_

_ Tommy groaned, wishing he had climbed into his jeep and driven away. Hopefully Jason was ready to make their tentative truce permanent. _

_ "Tommy!" Jason called as he ran up. "Got a sec, bro?"_

_ "Sure, Jase," Tommy said. "But I can't stay long."_

_ "That's fine," Jason said. "I just wanted to invite you to come to my house this weekend. Trini and I are having some of the other rangers over."_

_ "Well, I don't thin—" Tommy started to say._

_ "Just hear me out, bro," Jason interrupted. "Kim is going to be there. I thought maybe the two of you could talk and, well, put that whole incident at the memorial behind you."_

_ "Jason, I can't," Tommy said, shaking his head. "I—"_

_ Jason crossed his arms over his chest. _

_ "Why not?" Jason asked. "Are you really that set against moving on?"_

_ "No, it's not that," Tommy said. "I have somewhere else I need to be."_

_ "Somewhere more important than your friends?" Jason asked._

_ "Jason," Tommy sighed. "It's not that it's more important, but Anton is expecting me. I was already gone long enough for this and the quick trip to the resort in Reefside. I can't leave him alone on the island any longer. There's too much that could go wrong."_

_ "Friends should come before work, Tommy," Jason said shortly. "You haven't even tried patching things up since the memorial." _

_ "How can I patch things up when no one returns my calls?" Tommy exclaimed. "I've tried calling, multiple times."_

_ "But you never come to anything anymore, bro," Jason said, putting a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "We've sent you invitations every time we have a gathering. You can't avoid Kim forever without avoiding all of us. You gotta get over all this."_

_ "Don't touch me," Tommy snapped, pushing Jason's hand off of his shoulder. "Look, getting over it isn't the issue right now. I can't come this time."_

_ "You're always too busy to come," Jason snapped back. "But Kim's hurting. You two used to be close and she misses that. No one expects the two of you to date again, bro, but you've got to stop ignoring her."_

_ Tommy was getting more and more frustrated, wishing he had driven away when he had the chance. He could see the other rangers standing in the background, listening. The raised voices had gotten their attention. _

_ "I'm not ignoring her," Tommy said. "Look, tell her I'm sorry, ok? But I can't go running to her side every time she starts crying. I have other people depending on me right now."_

_ Jason dropped his arms, glaring at Tommy. _

_ "You don't have to be such a jerk about it," Jason snapped, pushing Tommy backward. "Why is it so hard for you to just get over it?"_

_ Tommy smacked into the side of his jeep, dropping his keys. He threw his hands up, glaring at Jason._

_ "Just back off!" he snapped. "I'm not doing this today!"_

_ Jason didn't listen, getting closer instead. _

_ "You're not going anywhere until this is settled," Jason snapped back, jabbing Tommy in the chest._

_ Tommy finally snapped, shoving Jason away from him._

_ "And I'm not going anywhere with you!" he yelled. "I have responsibilities, Jason. Or do you not remember what those are?"_

_ "I may not have stayed a ranger as long as you, Tommy," Jason snarled. "But I was a ranger first, and I never abandoned my friends." _

_ "Really?" Tommy said softly, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "But if I remember correctly, you're the one who turned tail and took off to the peace conference, dumping everything on me."_

_ Jason froze for a moment in shock. Then, before Tommy could react, Jason lashed out and punched him. Tommy took the hit, falling to the ground. He laid there in shock for a moment, staring up at Jason who turned and started walking away. Touching a hand to his lip, Tommy pulled it away to find blood. Wiping away some of the blood, Tommy jumped up and launched himself at Jason, grabbing him around the waist and tackling him to the ground. The both tumbled over each other. Rolling to their feet, the two men started fight all out. The other rangers shouted, running over to stop the fight. _

_ "Enough!" Carter shouted, leaping in the middle, shoving Jason and Tommy apart. _

_ Andros and TJ grabbed Tommy, stopping him from rushing Jason again. Wes and Eric grabbed Jason, holding him back while the others stood next to them. Both Tommy and Jason were panting, glaring angrily at each other. _

_ "What's going on?" Carter exclaimed. "You two used to be like brothers!"_

_ "Not anymore," Jason snapped. _

_ Tommy stared at Jason in shock for a moment. Then, yanking himself free of Andros and TJ's grasp, Tommy stormed over to his jeep. Grabbing the keys off of the ground, he pulled the door open and climbed inside, slamming it shut behind him. Starting the engine, Tommy peeled out, leaving the other rangers staring after him._

Shaking himself out of the memory, Dr. Oliver continued back to the main room where Ethan and Billy were still working. He paused in the doorway, listening to them talking and laughing. Billy was showing Ethan how to work some of the equipment, which was a lot different than what Dr. Oliver had in his own lab in Reefside.

"This stuff is incredible," Ethan said. "I wouldn't have expected it during this time."

"It is," Billy said. "And it was only by studying this system that I was able to create the communicators."

"Yeah," Ethan said excitedly. "I saw the one Dr. O has. They're awesome!"

Dr. Oliver smiled, thinking back to the day he had gotten his first communicator, standing in the very room they were in now.

_"We missed you Zordon," Jason said, stepping forward. _

_ "Moral around here was pretty low without you," Zach added. _

_ "But it remains that, even as you faced your greatest danger, with the odds stacked against you, you carried on like true superheroes and persevered," Zordon said._

_ "We really owe a lot to Alpha," said Trini, putting her hands on Alpha's shoulders._

_ "Aww…" Alpha muttered, ducking his head. _

_ "Alpha," said Zordon. "You displayed exemplary leadership capabilities in my absence. I am very proud of you."_

_ "Oh! Well—um… I—uh…" Alpha stammered. _

_ The rangers smiled at him. _

_ "And now I welcome our newest ranger," Zordon said._

_ Tommy stepped forward. _

_ "Now that you are a true power ranger, Tommy, you must follow three basic rules," Zordon continued. "Or lose the protection of the power. First, never use the power for personal gain. Second, never escalate a battle unless Rita forces you. And finally keep your identity a secret. No one may know you are a power ranger."_

_ "You can count on me Zordon," Tommy said. "One hundred percent." _

_ Billy stepped up next to Tommy, holding a small box. _

_ "Here," Billy said, holding out the box. "I made you a communicator." _

_ Tommy took it, smiling at Billy. _

_ "Wow, thanks man," Tommy said. _

_ "You're one of us now," said Jason. "Welcome aboard."_

_ "A new chapter has begun rangers," said Zordon. "Let the power protect you." _

Smiling to himself, Dr. Oliver rejoined Billy and Ethan, ready to get back to work.


	13. Taken

"Those new power rangers are getting in my way!" Rita exclaimed. "There has to be a way to get rid of them."

She had been observing the new rangers for several days, trying to figure out who they were and where they had come from.

"Maybe we can turn them against each other," Goldar said.

"Yes!" Rita exclaimed. "That's it! And I have the perfect plan."

"What is it?" Goldar asked.

"That annoying red ranger already doesn't trust the new black ranger," she said. "So I'll turn the black ranger into my new evil ranger. All it will take is one small thing and they'll be at each others' throats."

"They'll destroy each other," Goldar said.

"Yes," said Rita. "And we'll be rid of them all forever!"

Laughing, Rita peered into her telescope again, watching for an opportunity to snatch the black ranger.

"Ready?" Tommy asked, facing Conner on the mats.

Jason was back. He had volunteered to referee for the matches until it was his turn.

"Ready," Conner said, grinning.

"Go!" Jason said.

They both leapt into motion. Conner hit the floor and stared up at Tommy in shock.

"Point," Jason said. "Back to center."

"Alright," Conner said, getting back to his feet. "Wasn't expecting that. But I'm good now."

"Go," Jason said.

They started again, but after a moment Conner found himself on the floor. As the match kept going, Tommy scored point after point.

"Point," Jason said for the fifth time. "Back to center."

"What was that?" Conner exclaimed in frustration.

Tommy had taken him down with a high spinning kick that Conner hadn't seen coming.

"Since when do you fight like that?" he continued.

"That's how I fight," Tommy said, confused.

"Not anymore," Conner grumbled, moving to reset.

"Conner," Kira said from the sidelines. "Did you really expect his fighting style to stay the same after so many years of being a po—of practice?"

Conner just grumbled. Kira and Trent shook their heads.

"Go," Jason said.

As Conner and Tommy attacked again, Zach and Kim walked into the youth center and joined them.

"What's going on?" Zach asked Kira.

"Sparring match," she answered, watching Conner go down again. "Conner is losing."

"Why don't we call it?" Tommy said as he pulled Conner back to his feet.

Jason was shaking his head and laughing.

"Not a chance," Conner answered, moving back to his spot.

Tommy didn't move for a moment, looking over at Kira and Trent.

"He's not going to give up," Kira said, shrugging. "He's never scored a point against you. Older you I mean. I'm pretty sure he's determined to get one before we leave."

"I can slow down," Tommy said, looking at Conner as he moved back to his spot.

"No!" Conner snapped.

Shrugging, Tommy attacked again the moment Jason said go. After scoring two more points, he pulled Conner to his feet again, but didn't go back to center.

"I think that's enough for one day," Tommy said. "I don't want to hurt you. You're just getting frustrated, and you're leaving yourself wide open."

"I'll be fine," Conner said. "Let's keep going."

"Give it up, Conner," Kira said. "He may not be a seventh degree black belt, but he's got you beat. Even I can tell what move you're planning to make right now. Time to take a step back."

Tommy looked around at Kira in surprise.

"Seventh degree black belt?" Tommy said. "I'm only a third degree black belt."

Now it was Conner's turn to look surprised.

"Dr. O did this on purpose," he muttered.

Kira smacked Conner on the arm.

"You would have known if you'd pay attention," she said.

"But I'm not nearly at the level for seventh degree," Tommy said, looking at the Dino teens.

"Yeah, right now," Conner said. "You get better. A lot better."

"My turn," Kira said. "If that's ok with you, Tommy."

"Sure," he said, stepping back onto the mat.

Kira and Tommy faced off.

"Ready?" Jason said. "Go!"

Again, Tommy scored the first point. But Kira bounced right back up, ready to keep going. They started again. Tommy jumped up in another spinning kick, but this time Kira was ready for it and ducked underneath, countering with a strike of her own.

"Point," Jason said. "Back to center."

"Nice one, Kira," Tommy said.

She shrugged.

"I had a chance to observe before we fought," she said. "And you're already tired from fighting Conner."

"So not fair," Conner muttered, glaring at her.

"It's your own fault for wanting to go first," Kira said.

The match continued, Tommy giving pointers as they went. Kira scored a couple more points, but Tommy won the match.

"Good job," he said.

"You're a good teacher," said Kira. "And not just in the future."

"Thanks, Kira," Tommy said. "Trent, what about you?"

"I'll give it a go," he said with a shrug. "Although I haven't been training with you—the future you, I mean—all that long."

"That didn't stop you from beating our butts on more than one occasion," Conner said.

Smirking at Conner, Trent faced Tommy.

"Ready?" Jason said. "Go!"

Kira rejoined Conner, Zach, and Kim on the sidelines, watching Trent and Tommy face off.

"You've got some nice moves, babe," Zach said, grinning at Kira.

She stiffened, turning slowly around to face him.

"What did you say?" she said softly, a dangerous glint in her eye.

Conner stared at Zach in shock. Trent froze in the middle of the fight, whipping around to look at Kira. Tommy, who hadn't been expecting Trent to stop like that, caught him in the chest with a kick and knocked him to the ground.

"Ooph," Trent grunted as he landed.

"No one calls me, 'babe'," she growled.

"Uh, dude," Conner said, pulling on Zach's arm. "Run!"

"What?" Zach asked in confusion. "I didn't mean anything bad—"

Kira took a step toward Zach and Conner started pushing, but Zach wasn't protesting anymore.

"Just go!" Conner said. "Go, go, go!"

Conner and Zach took off out of the youth center, Kira right on their heels. Jason watched them go in concern as Tommy pulled Trent to his feet.

"She won't actually hurt him, will she?" Jason asked, looking at Trent.

Trent looked at Jason and Tommy, and then in the direction the other three had gone.

"Dr. O is gonna be mad," he groaned, bolting out of the youth center after his friends.

The three originals exchanged looks.

"Maybe we should go to," Kim suggested.

Tommy and Jason nodded and the three of them took off. They caught up to the others in the park. Conner and Trent were standing and watching Kira, who had Zach pinned on the ground.

"If you ever call me 'babe' again," she growled, "I'm gonna blow your eardrums."

"Please don't," Zach said. "I won't ever call you—I won't do it again."

Kira stood up, letting Zach go.

"At least it wasn't me this time," Conner said.

Kira just glared at him.

"Well it wasn't," Conner protested.

"Let's head back to the youth center," Jason said. "It's my turn now."

Turning around, they started to head back toward the youth center. But before they could go anywhere, the rangers found themselves surrounded by putties.

"Great," Kira said as they all dropped into defensive positions. "Dr. O is going to kill us. We're supposed to be staying out of the fights."

"It's not like we went looking for this," Conner said. "They came to us."

The putties attacked and the seven rangers fought back. But more and more putties kept appearing.

"Zordon!" Kim called through the communicator. "We're under attack in the park!"

"Ethan," Billy said, looking up from the memory device. "Will you please recalibrate the programming of the auditory stimulators to coincide with the visual patterns? I believe the current configuration will only confuse rather than block the neurotransmitters."

Ethan stepped away from the viewing globe to answer Billy.

"Uh, sure, Billy," Ethan said, looking at the computer for a moment. "Ok. I have no idea what you want me to do. Dr. O?"

"Just reset the program again," Dr. Oliver said, smiling. "We need the sounds and lights to work together, not against each other, or the device won't completely block their memories."

"Gotcha!" he said. "That I can do. By the way. You beat Conner's butt. He can't even beat younger you! Kira and Trent aren't doing too badly though."

"Focus, Ethan," Dr. Oliver said.

"I found the part you needed, Billy," Trini said, teleporting into the command center. "How's it going?"

"Well—" Billy started to say.

An alarm started going off and they all looked over at the viewing globe.

"Rangers," Zordon said. "Kimberly and the others are under attack in the park."

"We're on our way, Zordon," Billy said.

The four of them, Ethan with Dr. Oliver's help, teleported to the park. When they arrived, the others were surrounded by putties and fighting hard. They immediately joined in the fight. But as they finished fighting the putties, Goldar and one of Rita's monsters made an appearance.

"There's too many of them!" Kim said. "We need to morph."

"You're right, Kim," Jason said. "Let's do this."

The Dino Thunder teens stopped and stared at Jason and the others, then looked over at Dr. Oliver.

"Wow, way to be obvious," Ethan said.

"Don't look at me," Dr. Oliver said with a shrug. "He's the leader. I just joined."

Tommy glanced over at them and shrugged as well.

"It's morphin' time!" Jason called.

"Dragonzord!"

"Mastadon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabertooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

There was a pause and Dr. Oliver looked at Conner.

"Conner?" he said.

"Oh! Right. Ready?" Conner said.

"Ready," the team responded.

"Dino Thunder, power up! Hyah!"

"White Ranger, power up!"

The original rangers had already engaged the monster, so the Dino Thunder team charged Goldar before he could attack the others. As they were all fighting, Scorpina joined the mix.

"You guys keep Goldar busy!" Dr. Oliver yelled. "I'll get Scorpina."

"We've got it!" Conner answered, ducking under Goldar's sword.

Wielding his Brachio staff, Dr. Oliver attacked Scorpina. She fought with him for a moment, but then she retreated. Dr. Oliver chased her, not relenting as the other rangers continued to fight with the monster and Goldar. Away from the others, Scorpina stopped and turned to fight again. More putties appeared, attacking Dr. Oliver. They ganged up and overwhelmed him, pinning Dr. Oliver.

"You're going to help us destroy the power rangers," Scorpina said, laughing. "Let's go."

With the putties still holding on to the struggling Dr. Oliver, they all disappeared.

As suddenly as the fight had started, it stopped. Goldar and the monster disappeared with the remaining putties, leaving the rangers confused.

"Where's Dr. O?" Kira said, looking around.

"I think I saw him head over that way," Ethan said, pointing away from where they had been fighting.

"I'll find him," Conner said, zipping off.

He rounded a corner to see Dr. Oliver in the clutches of a large group of putties, struggling to get away. But before Conner could do anything, they disappeared. He stared in shock as the rest of the rangers came running up.

"Did you find him?" Trent asked as he ran up.

"Yeah," Conner said, still staring. "We have a problem."

The other rangers all stared at him in confusion, looking around for Dr. Oliver.

"What problem?" Jason asked, frowning.

"Where is Dr. O?" Ethan said. "I don't see him."

"That's the problem," Conner said.

"Conner!" Kira snapped. "Is he stuck invisible again? Or did you just not find him? What's the problem?"

"He's gone," Conner said. "A bunch of the—what do you call them?—putties and the lady in the tacky gold armor took him."

"Aww… Not again," Ethan groaned.

"Scorpina took him?" Jason exclaimed. "Why?"

The Dino Thunder teens looked at each other and shrugged.

"If we knew that, maybe we could stop people from taking him," Ethan said. "But we have no idea why Dr. O is always the one the bad guys want to kidnap."

"We've got to get back to the command center," Jason said, clapping a hand on Conner's shoulder.

The other originals followed suit and, before the Dino Thunder rangers realized what was going on, they teleported back to the command center. The original rangers removed their helmets. Billy moved straight to the computer to try and track Dr. Oliver's energy signal.

"Whoa," Conner said, shaking his head. "No wonder Dr. O doesn't like being teleported without warning. That was not fun."

He leaned against the console. Ethan was next to him, and Kira and Trent were leaning on each other. All four of them were trying to regain their bearings.

"Yeah," Ethan said. "Some warning would be appreciated from now on."

"But now we understand why Dr. O almost bit off Andros' head the last time it happened," Trent said. "I never thought it was a big deal until now…"

"Who's Andros?" Tommy asked.

"Never mind," Kira said. "Long story. But it starts with something about two different people trying to teleport him at the same time, which is apparently extremely painful, without warning. Since then, he likes to be in control, or at least have warning."

Jason growled in frustration, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Forget that!" Jason exclaimed. "Rita has To—Dr. O—the black ranger that isn't Zach!"

"What are we gonna do?" Zach said. "If she puts him under a spell, we're all in trouble."

"We've got to rescue him," Kim said. "There's got to be a way to get to Dr. Oliver before Rita hurts him."

"Aren't you four in the least bit worried?" Jason exclaimed, looking over at the Dino Thunder teens.

Instead of just taking off their helmets, they had de-morphed and made themselves comfortable. Tommy was watching them, confused by their behavior.

"Oh, we haven't hit the three hour mark yet," Ethan said. "It's barely been ten minutes."

"Three hour mark?" Trini said.

"Yeah," Conner said. "Dr. O says to always give him at least three hours before we start panicking."

"Unless he tells us ahead of time he's going to be gone or he calls to check in," Kira added.

"Your teammate and mentor has been captured by one of his enemies and you're not going to worry?" Jason asked.

The original rangers all stared at the Dino teens, shocked that they were so calm.

"We didn't say we weren't worried," Trent said. "We said we weren't panicking."

"The last time Dr. O went missing he was gone for three days before anyone really noticed," Ethan added. "Well, I guess we noticed, but we didn't start freaking out until he missed a whole day of school."

"He disappears on us sometimes," Kira said with a shrug. "But he usually checks in. At least with Hayley. She always knows where he is."

"Even when he doesn't have his cell phone," Ethan said. "He forgets it a lot. Usually at the café or in the lab. Although he does always have his communicator."

"Not that he always answers," Conner said. "But then we just get Hayley."

"Sometimes I think she's put a tracker on Dr. O," Kira said. "Because he can't go anywhere without her knowing. It makes sense if you think about it. Especially after the island incident when it took her forever to figure out if he was even alive."

"Maybe it's in his communicator," Conner suggested. "He always has that with him."

"Nah," Ethan said. "Too easy to take away. I bet she implanted it under his skin while he was unconscious."

"Good point, Ethan," Trent said. "Although—"

Jason slammed a fist down on the edge of one of the consoles in frustration.

"Wait a minute!" Jason interrupted. "He was missing for three days? And no one thought to go looking for him?"

"Like we said, he takes off sometimes," Trent shrugged. "Besides, I wasn't there yet."

"And we hadn't been rangers very long," Kira added. "Although I guess we should have suspected something. Dr. O did promise he was going to be at my gig and never showed."

"We aren't talking about him taking off on his own somewhere!" Jason finally snapped. "Conner saw him being taken. We know where he is and we need to get him out of there before Rita can turn him against us."

"She must have taken him to the dark dimension," Billy said. "Because I can't get a lock on him anywhere."

Jason started pacing, getting more and more frustrated by the Dino teens behavior.

"What's so scary about the dark dimension?" Ethan asked.

"Does it have a life force-extractor?" Conner asked.

"A what?" Zach exclaimed.

"Life force-extractor," Conner said. "The last time Dr. O was kidnapped he spent three days hooked up to Mesogog's life force-extractor."

"That thing is not cool," Kira said, shuddering. "He almost used it on me when his tyrannodrones kidnapped me right after we got our gems."

"He did use it on me," Trent said. "Not a good feeling. Although it did turn out alright. The machine backfiring broke the evil encoding on my gem."

"Which we are forever grateful for," Kira said, smiling at Trent.

"Can you guys focus?" Jason exclaimed in frustration. "We need to make a plan."

"Why?" Conner asked. "We haven't even given Dr. O a chance to get himself out yet."

"He's actually really good at rescuing himself," Kira said. "We're pretty sure he would have eventually freed himself from Mesogog if we hadn't arrived."

"Although he was strapped to a chair," Ethan said. "I'm not sure how far he would have gotten if we hadn't released him."

"It was a group effort," Conner said.

"All's well that ends well," Trent said.

Stopping where he was, Jason turned on the teens. He stormed toward them, getting in their faces again.

"That's it!" Jason snapped. "You guys have a serious problem. One of your teammates is in trouble and you're acting like its nothing!"

Conner put his hands up, trying to get Jason to calm down. The other three just looked at him like he was crazy.

"Listen, Jason" Conner said. "Don't get us wrong, we're worried. But Dr. O has been trapped in Rita's dark dimension before and gotten out. You really shouldn't underestimate him."

"That's right," Kira said. "And besides, you said yourself that you don't have a way in there."

"They might be right, Jason," Tommy said, finally speaking up. "I spent a lot of time there. If anyone is going to find a way out, it's gonna be me."

"So we just sit here and wait?" Jason said. "Do nothing? Once Rita figures out who he is the whole plan to save your future is going to go out the window. We don't be able to erase her memories. We can't get that close."

The Dino teens exchanged glances. The original rangers looked at each other in concern. They hadn't thought out that part yet.

"How would she found out who he is?" Trent asked. "He wouldn't power down in front of her."

"The dark dimension disables the power coins," Tommy said. "If she took him there, he won't be able to stay morphed."

"Dude," Conner said. "Dr. O doesn't have a power coin anymore. He has a Dino gem. I seriously doubt this dark dimension is going to interfere with it."

"And besides," Kira said. "We're still standing here. So obviously nothing drastic has changed."

"That doesn't change—" Jason started to say.

Conner put a hand up to stop him.

"Listen," Conner interrupted. "If you want to keep planning, go ahead. After all, this is your time and your enemy. You know how she works. We're going to give Dr. O a chance to free himself."

"If we haven't heard from him in a few hours, we'll be all for staging a rescue," Ethan added. "After all, we don't want to deal with him under a spell either. We've fought him and it isn't a whole lot of fun, even when he's taking it easy on us."

Jason sighed in frustration, but he didn't say anything else.

* * *

_AN: Yeah i know i know IT'S ALWAYS TOMMY :) we couldn't resist a Tommy getting captured by Rita moment. Next chapter will be up soon!  
_


	14. Taken 2

"Talk about déjà vu," Dr. Oliver muttered, looking around.

Scorpina and the putties had taken him straight to the dark dimension. He wasn't sure how long he had been there, but it was starting to seem like forever.

"Well, at least the dark dimension doesn't affect my Dino gem," he sighed. "It would be nice if something would actually happen, though."

He sighed again. Leaning against one of the walls, he tried to relax.

"I've spent way too much time here," he grumbled. "And so did Jason. We used to laugh about it…"

_"You know, after all the times we've escaped, you'd think Rita would give up trying to trap us in the dark dimension," Jason said. "It never works the way she wants it to."_

_They were walking through the park, heading toward the youth center. Tommy had just rescued Jason from the dark dimension, again, a few hours before. They were planning on working out for a while before meeting back up with the others._

_"I think she's just hoping we'll give up and stay put," Tommy said, laughing. "Maybe next time I'll leave you there. Let's see how long it takes her to get sick and tired of you."_

_Jason laughed, shoving Tommy to one side._

_"Yeah right, bro," he laughed. "You'd be worse than me. Pacing around in circles. You'd make Rita too dizzy."_

_Tommy pushed him back. Still laughing, they goofed around for a few moments, mock fighting as they kept heading toward the youth center._

_"Don't worry," Tommy said with a grin. "No matter how many times you get stuck there, I'll always come rescue you."_

_"And what about you?" Jason exclaimed. "You end up there just as much as I do."_

_"Then I guess you'd better be ready to come and get me," Tommy said. "Although you'd better move quickly before I start letting myself out. There's got to be a backdoor to that place somewhere." _

_Rolling his eyes, Jason pushed Tommy again, knocking him off his feet. Laughing, Jason took off running for the youth center. Tommy leapt to his feet, racing after him. _

"A lot has changed since then," Dr. Oliver said to himself.

Sighing, he started pacing around the room again. After a little while, no one had shown up to taunt or attack him. Tired of pacing, Dr. Oliver started working out, trying anything to keep himself busy and his mind out of the past.

"You know," Ethan said, staring at the device, "we can't go home until Dr. O comes back. Hayley would kill us."

All of the rangers were still at the command center. Billy was working with Alpha to try and pinpoint Dr. Oliver's location. The rest of them were waiting. Jason had taken to pacing around the outside of the console, unable to sit still. Trini, Zach, and Kim were talking quietly, shooting worried glances over at Billy. The four Dino Teens were on the other side of the room near the device.

"Yeah," Conner muttered. "Guess it's a good thing the machine isn't done yet. If we went back without him, she'd probably kick us all the way back here."

"You guys keep talking about Hayley," Kim said. "Is she your pink ranger?"

The Dino Thunder teens all burst out laughing. Conner had to lean on the console to stay upright.

"What's so funny?" Kim asked, glaring at them.

"You guys do only have five with you," Zach said. "And you do talk about her like she's part of the team."

"She's our tech," Ethan said. "Kind of like Billy."

"Billy's a ranger too, though," Trini said.

"Hayley's not," Kira said.

"The thought of Hayley as a power ranger is actually quiet scary," Ethan said. "She dangerous now. Could you imagine if she had our powers?"

The four Dino teens were quiet for a moment, staring at each other as they thought through that possibility.

"I'd rather not think about it," Conner said. "I'd never get away with anything."

"Conner," Kira said. "You don't get away with anything."

"So do you guys have a sixth ranger?" Jason asked.

"Nope," said Conner.

"We didn't start with six either," Kim said, glancing over at Tommy. "But I'm glad we have six now."

"We started with three," Kira said.

"What?" Zach exclaimed. "Three?"

"Yeah," Conner said. "Me, Ethan, and Kira. Dr. O found his Dino gem a little later on. Or it found him…Trent eventually joined us after his gem stopped being evil."

"I don't want to add anyone else," Trent said. "I like the team the way it is."

Kira smiled, bumping her shoulder against Trent's.

"But if someone else does show up," Kira said. "We would welcome them anyways."

"Maybe you'll get a pink ranger next," Kim said.

"Umm… I don't think that would go over very well with Hayley," Kira said, shaking her head.

"But what if she was the pink ranger?" said Kim, still pushing the idea.

Conner and Ethan snorted, laughing again.

"Just don't let Hayley hear you saying that," Ethan said. "She'll hit you."

"Hayley doesn't need another reason to hit her," Kira said. "She'd do it anyways."

"Why would she hit me?" Kim asked in surprise.

"Well—" Conner started to say.

"Don't worry about it," Kira interrupted, glaring at Conner. "The point is, if Hayley was going to be a ranger, she'd probably pick green."

Everyone turned to look at Tommy. His face started turning red again.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"And then there's white, or red, or black," Conner said.

"Nah," Ethan said. "She wouldn't be red, too much responsibility. Besides, she wouldn't want to steal your powers, Conner. And she wouldn't want to steal Trent or Dr. O's powers either. She'd definitely pick green."

"And then she could be slightly evil if she felt like it," Trent said with a smile.

Tommy paled, again, looking at Trent.

"What?" Kim exclaimed, looking at Tommy.

"Don't worry," Ethan said. "It's a good thing."

The other rangers looked at him in confusion.

"She'd only do evil things to protect us," Trent clarified. "And you, Tommy. Well, the future you."

Tommy nodded, still not sure what to think about everything. The rest of the original rangers were shaking their heads.

"Although she'd probably protect the current you too," Kira said. "If she had been sent back in time."

Ethan started shaking his head.

"Hayley being sent back in time would be a bad thing," he said. "She might be too tempted to hurt certain people. Even though certain events haven't even occurred yet."

He was glaring at the other three, jerking his head toward Kim. She frowned at him. Smiling back, Ethan shrugged. Kira, Trent, and Conner shook their heads, laughing at Ethan.

Dr. Oliver was in the middle of doing some one-handed push-ups when Goldar finally came to taunt him.

"Well, black ranger," he said. "Are you—"

Goldar froze in shock. Dr. Oliver finished a push-up and pushed himself to his feet. He stood there, looking at Goldar with his arms crossed in front of him.

"About time you got here," Dr. Oliver said. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten me. There's really not a whole lot to do here."

"Then maybe I should finish you off," Goldar growled.

"Come on then," Dr. Oliver taunted, motioning with his hand for Goldar to try.

Goldar snarled and drew his sword. As he took a step forward, Dr. Oliver leapt into motion. Diving toward Goldar, he grabbed the sword. He used the momentum to flip over Goldar, landing behind him. Goldar spun around in shock. Dr. Oliver was holding the sword.

"And that's what I was waiting for," he said, giving Goldar a half-salute. "See you later!"

Swinging the sword, Dr. Oliver stabbed it into the ground and disappeared. Teleporting out of the dark dimension, he suddenly reappeared in the park. It was dark now. He'd been in the dark dimension for at least a few hours. Shaking himself off, Dr. Oliver looked around and teleported again. This time to the command center.

Conner sighed, leaning back against the console and listening to his stomach growl. They had all been waiting in the command center for the past two hours. It was starting to get dark out and they hadn't had a chance to eat. Jason had finally stopped pacing, but he still couldn't stay in one place for long. Tommy and Zach were trying to distract him. It wasn't working. Kira, Ethan, and Trent were sitting and talking with Billy, Kim, and Trini.

"Does anyone have anything to eat?" Conner asked.

The other rangers turned to look at him in surprise. Shaking their heads, the other Dino teens just groaned.

"What?" he said. "It's past dinner time and I haven't eaten anything since lunch."

"You're gonna have to wait until Dr. O gets back," Kira said. "We can't teleport, remember?"

Conner walked over to where they were sitting.

"But one of them could teleport me out," he argued. "Just for a few minutes. We'd be right back."

Jason, who had turned around to listen when Conner started talking, was staring at the red Dino ranger in complete shock. Almost growling in frustration, he stormed over to Conner.

"That's it!" he snapped. "I've had enough of this. We can't let Rita have Dr. Oliver any longer. If you aren't going to do something about it, then I will."

All of the rangers hopped to their feet, ready to stop a fight if necessary.

"But Jason," Kim said, "we don't have a way to get to Dr. Oliver."

"Because we haven't even tried," he said.

The Dino teens sighed.

"Fine," Conner said. "Then what are you going to do about it?"

"Do about what?" Dr. Oliver said behind them.

He had just teleported into the command center to hear Conner talking to Jason. All of the rangers spun around in surprise. Dr. Oliver de-morphed, looking around the room.

"Dr. O!" the Dino teens exclaimed.

Jason, seeing Dr. Oliver, reached over and hit a button on the console before the black Dino ranger could move. A force field sprung up around him. Dr. Oliver groaned.

"Really?" he said. "Fine. Go ahead. Scan me. I'm not under a spell. Eyes are still brown, not green."

Billy and Alpha hurried forward to scan Dr. Oliver. He grumbled the whole time while the rest of the Dino Thunder team laughed. The original rangers all eyed him suspiciously.

"You're clear," Billy said. "Jason, you can release him."

Jason didn't move, keeping his arms crossed in front of him.

"Jason," Trini said. "Let him out."

"Why?" Jason asked. "All of this could be a trick. How do we know he didn't go with them on purpose? I don't see how he could have gotten out without their help."

Dr. Oliver sighed, shaking his head.

"Goldar's sword," he said, looking at Jason. "It acts as a doorway to the dark dimension. That's how I got out."

"Matches up with what he told us before," Conner said, glaring at Jason. "Now let him out."

Jason still didn't move. Shoving him out of the way, Conner hit the button himself and released Dr. Oliver. Jason moved to grab Conner, but Tommy stopped him.

"Calm down, bro," he said. "If Billy and Alpha say he's clear, then we have no reason not to believe him. Dr. Oliver has had plenty of chances to sabotage us if that's what he's after. I trust him."

Taking a deep breath, Jason grumbled but backed down. Kira, Trent, and Ethan, who had tensed up in preparation to defend Conner, relaxed. But the tension in the room remained as the two teams studied each other, Tommy standing in the middle.

"So how did you know to use Goldar's sword?" Tommy asked, trying to break the silence.

"Done it before," Dr. Oliver answered. "You're going to be spending some more time in different dimensions soon. But don't worry, you'll figure it out."

Tommy nodded, taking a deep breath. But before he could say anything else, Conner spoke up.

"Dr. O, can we go get dinner now?" Conner asked.

Dr. Oliver laughed, shaking his head.

"I see that nothing's changed in the past few hours," he said. "Yes, Conner. Let's get you guys back to the cabin for the night."

"What about you, Dr. O?" Trent asked, frowning. "You need to sleep too."

"Don't worry, Trent," Dr. Oliver said. "I just want to spend an hour or two working on the device. We lost time when I was stuck in the dark dimension."

A look of concern flashed across Trent's face, but he nodded.

"Billy," Dr. Oliver said. "If you wouldn't mind teleporting us back to the youth center?"

Nodding, Billy programmed the computer and the Dino Thunder team disappeared in a flash of light. Jason, still muttering to himself, glared at the spot where they had been standing.

"Come on, bro," Tommy said, clapping a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Let's get out of here. We have a test in the morning, remember?"

"That's right!" Zach exclaimed. "I'm so going to fail…"

He teleported out of the command center without another word. The other originals shook their heads, laughing. Kim and Trini followed Zach out, talking about meeting in the morning to go over notes.

"Coming, Jase?" Tommy asked.

Jason sighed, but nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Let's go. You gonna be ok Billy?"

"Affirmative," Billy answered. "I'm going to recalibrate some of the mechanisms before I return home."

"Call if you need anything," Jason said.

He and Tommy teleported out of the command center, leaving Billy working on the device.

When Dr. Oliver parked the truck at the cabin, the teens all piled out and headed straight inside. He followed behind them, shaking his head as they bickered about dinner. Inside, Conner headed straight to the kitchen. Kira and Ethan trailed behind him. Trent waited for Dr. Oliver.

"What do you want to eat, Dr. O?" Trent asked.

"Do we still have any of the bread and lunch meat we bought a few days ago?" he asked.

"Yeah," Trent answered. "Unless Conner ate it while we weren't looking."

"I'll come make a sandwich then," Dr. Oliver said.

He headed toward the kitchen with Trent. Ethan was digging through one of the cupboards looking for a pot while Kira was pulling a few cans of pasta out of another one. Conner already had the sandwich stuff out. Dr. Oliver leaned against the doorframe, watching the teens making dinner. Trent pushed in next to Conner, snatching the bread and lunch meat away. Conner had just made one sandwich and started eating. Taking the stuff over to the table, Trent started making more sandwiches. He made a pile on a plate and left it in the middle of the table, putting away the fixings.

"Thanks, Trent," Dr. Oliver said, walking over and grabbing a sandwich.

"No problem," Trent grinned, taking a sandwich himself.

Conner sat down at the table, grabbing a second sandwich. Kira and Ethan were both at the stove staring at a pot of water while they waited for it to boil.

"It's never going to boil while you stare at it," Dr. Oliver said drily, shaking his head at them.

"It has to boil eventually," Ethan said.

Sighing, Dr. Oliver finished his sandwich.

"Alright," he said. "You guys finish dinner and head to bed. I'm going to try and catch up on some work with the machine. Don't wait up."

Before the teens could protest, he teleported himself out of the cabin.

"Has anyone else noticed Dr. O is acting weird?" Trent asked, sitting down at the table with Conner.

"Yeah," Kira said. "He seems a little out of it. Has he been sleeping?"

"I don't know," Trent answered, shaking his head. "He's been spending a lot of time at the command center."

"And he keeps going for late night runs," Ethan said. "Has anyone actually seen him go to bed?"

"Come to think of it, no," Conner said. "I just see him come out of his room in the morning."

The teens frowned, trying to remember the last time they had actually seen him go to bed at a decent hour.

"I've tried waiting up for him a few nights," said Trent, "but I keep falling asleep in the chair."

"I guess we'd better keep an eye on him then," Kira said. "I want to get home just as much as he does, but there's not much of a point if he kills himself to get us there."

The other three nodded in agreement.

"So what do we do now?" Ethan asked. "He's already gone and we don't have a way to get to the command center."

"Not much we can do," Conner said.

They were all silent for a few minutes. Kira sighed, pulling the pot of pasta off the stove.

"Let's finish eating dinner," Kira said, "and then head to bed like Dr. O wants us to. We'll talk to him first thing in the morning."

Nodding, the boys agreed with Kira. Scooping the pasta into bowls, she and Ethan sat down at the table with Conner and Trent to eat and talk.


	15. Day eleven

_**Oops, Sorry! :( posted the wrong chapter last time that was chapter sixteen this might make more sense if i post them in order. :) So this is the proper chapter 15 sorry if this confuses anyone! *superdory57 looking sheepish and bashful***_

_**hazergirl1220 - "She is a bit of a nut job just ignore her." **_

_**superdory57 - "it's true, i am... OH WELL" :D**_

_**ENJOY!**_

**DAY ELEVEN-Monday**

"Hey Dr. O!" Conner said. "How's it going?"

The Dino rangers and the originals had just teleported into the command center. Jason and the others had met up with the Dino teens after school. Not having anything planned, they decided to head to the command center to check on the progress of the device. Billy was already there, having come straight from school. He was running some tests on the computer while Dr. Oliver was double checking some of the mechanics.

"It's going," Dr. Oliver said shortly, not looking up.

Dropping their backpacks in a corner, the originals walked over to take a look at the device. It was almost completed. Billy and Dr. Oliver were working on finishing touches and testing to make sure everything was working correctly.

"Geez Dr. O," Conner said. "I was just wondering."

"It's fine, Conner," Dr. Oliver said. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, they were heading out here to check in," Kira said. "So we thought we'd come by. We're running out of things to do that don't draw a lot of attention or cost money…"

"Yeah," Ethan said. "We can't even train without being stared at."

"And the library hasn't been a whole lot of help for studying," Trent added. "We tried, but we don't even remember everything that was in the chapter…"

Sighing, Dr. Oliver sat up, wiping his hands on an oil rag and set it back by the oil can, which was sitting on the console edge so he wouldn't kick it over. He was dressed in his school clothes, the clothes he had originally arrived in. They hadn't been able to afford a lot of clothes, so they had washed what they had to wear again.

"And so you thought you come here?" he said. "I don't need your guys' help right now."

"Well, we were actually hoping you were done," Ethan admitted. "I know you said you were close…"

"Close, Ethan," Dr. Oliver said. "Not done. I will tell you the minute we finish."

Sighing, the Dino teens turned away to talk to the other rangers.

"So you guys got any ideas?" Ethan asked. "Cause we don't…"

"We could go to the movies," Zach suggested. "There's a great new horror movie out."

Kira snorted, shaking her head.

"I don't think so," she said. "Not exactly my thing."

"Don't worry," Zach said with a grin. "If you get scared I can hold your hand."

Rolling her eyes, Kira sighed. Behind her, Trent glared at Zach. He threw his hands up in surrender.

"Whoa, dude," Zach said. "Not trying to take your girl."

Now Kira glared at him. Zach backed up a step, bumping into Conner who had been heading toward the viewing globe. Conner stumbled, flailing his arms to catch his balance. He stopped himself from falling, but knocked the oil can off the counter. It hit Dr. Oliver, dumping the contents out. Dr. Oliver froze as the oil ran down his back, getting all over his shirt.

"Conner!" he yelled, standing up and turning to glare at him.

Conner froze in shock, staring at Dr. Oliver. The other Dino teens tensed up. They hadn't expected that reaction from Dr. Oliver. He got frustrated with them, but he didn't usually yell unless they were in danger.

"I am so sorry," he stammered, his eyes wide. "I didn't—I mean—I—I'm so sorry, Dr. O."

Dr. Oliver clenched his fists, taking a deep breath. Everyone was looking at him in surprise. Taking another deep breath, Dr. Oliver tried to relax.

"Dr. O, I really am sorry," Conner said again.

"Drop it, Conner," Dr. Oliver snapped.

Dr. Oliver started pulling off the dress shirt, not wanting to wear it now that it was soaked with oil. He left his white undershirt on.

"This was a good shirt," he muttered. "And this would happen the day I decide to wear it."

Sighing, Dr. Oliver looked at the shirt. He could save it if he took the time to get the oil out now, but he really didn't want to take the time. Muttering under his breath, he tossed it down on the floor next to the nearly empty oil can.

"Guess I have a new oil rag," he said. "Thank you, Conner."

"I'm sorry," Conner muttered, his shoulders slumping as he looked down at his feet.

Running his hand through his hair, Dr. Oliver realized everyone, except Conner, was staring at him.

"What now?" he sighed, looking around.

"It wasn't all Conner's fault, Dr. O," Trent said. "It was an accident."

Kira and Ethan nodded in agreement. They looked at Dr. Oliver in concern.

"I mean, I know he goofs around a lot," Kira said. "But he wouldn't ever do anything like that on purpose."

"I know," Dr. Oliver said. "Conner, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

Conner shrugged, glancing up at his teacher.

"It's ok, Dr. O," he said. "I'll buy you a new shirt if you want."

Dr. Oliver shook his head.

"And how are you going to afford that?" he asked.

"Umm… I don't know…" answered Conner.

The other Dino teens laughed at him. Conner wasn't very good at saving money.

"Don't worry about it, Conner," Dr. Oliver said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I've got other shirts."

The four teens relaxed again, Ethan elbowing Conner playfully. Dr. Oliver shook his head, starting to turn back to the machine. He stopped, realizing the original rangers were all still staring at him.

"And you are all staring at me because?" he asked.

No one spoke for a moment as they all exchanged looks. The Dino Thunder team looked around, just as confused as Dr. Oliver.

"When did you get the ink?" Zach finally exclaimed.

Dr. Oliver groaned. He hadn't thought about his undershirt being a tank style with no sleaves before he took off the other shirt. The originals knew nothing about his tattoos.

"College," he muttered, crouching down by the machine and picking up a screwdriver.

"But didn't you just get one last year?" Conner said. "That's what Hayley said."

Dr. Oliver turned his head to look at Conner, raising an eyebrow.

"And when were you talking to Hayley about my tattoos?" he asked.

"Never mind," Conner said quickly, stepping further away.

Shaking his head, Dr. Oliver turned back to the machine. Standing back up, he walked over to a nearby toolbox.

"I got most of them in college," he said. "Anyone else have any other disruptions to get out of their system?"

No one answered.

"Good," Dr. Oliver said. "Then out."

"Wait a minute," Jason said, frowning. "This is our command center. You can't kick us out."

The other originals nodded in agreement. Billy glanced up from the computer, but didn't say anything. Dr. Oliver turned around to look at Jason, crossing his arms in front of him.

"So you're ok with us staying longer?" he asked. "Because the next accident could damage the machine. And then we'll be here that much longer trying to repair it."

Jason stared at Dr. Oliver for a moment, glancing at the others.

"Alright guys," he said. "Let's get out of here."

"That's what I thought," Dr. Oliver said, moving back over to the device.

Kim, Trini, Tommy, and Jason grabbed their backpacks and all of the rangers except Billy and Dr. Oliver teleported out of the command center.

A few hours later, Dr. Oliver and Billy were still at it. Dr. Oliver was down on the floor, making further adjustments to the machine's mechanics. Billy was finalizing the programming at the computer. Finishing what he was doing, Dr. Oliver started to stand up. But he lost his balance, stumbling and dropping a wrench before catching himself on the console. Billy looked up in surprise.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern, taking a step toward Dr. Oliver.

"I'm fine," Dr Oliver said, waving Billy back.

Straightening up, Dr. Oliver rubbed a hand across his face. He grabbed a bottle of water that was sitting nearby and took a drink. Billy frowned, studying him.

"Perhaps we should be finished for the night," Billy said.

Dr. Oliver put the water bottle down and looked at Billy.

"You should be," Dr. Oliver said. "You have school in the morning. I'm going to stay here a while longer."

"You've been working late every night," Billy said. "We're close to finishing, so perhaps tonight you can rest. We can complete the project tomorrow."

"No," Dr. Oliver said, shaking his head. "I've just got a couple more adjustments to make and then it'll be ready. Might as well get it done tonight so it'll be ready tomorrow afternoon."

"If you're sure you'll be alright," Billy said slowly.

"I'll be fine, Billy," Dr. Oliver said, waving for him to go ahead. "See you after school."

Billy nodded and teleported away. Sighing, Dr. Oliver leaned against the console again. He rested there for a moment, and then pushed himself off and walked over to the toolbox.

"Tommy," Zordon said. "What's troubling you?"

"Nothing's wrong," Dr. Oliver said, grabbing the tool he needed and sitting back down by the device. "I just need to get this finished. I need to get the kids home."

"Yes," Zordon said. "But that's not what's bothering you. It's clear that you have not been yourself."

"Yeah?" Dr. Oliver muttered. "And how would you know what I'm like now?"

"It's true that you have changed much," Zordon said. "But you're still Tommy."

"Not anymore," Dr. Oliver snapped. "Almost no one calls me that nowadays. Everyone who knew me then is gone. They've forgotten about me."

He stood up, going back over to the toolbox, but he didn't look up at Zordon.

"Is that what's bothering you?" Zordon asked.

"Nothing's bothering me!" Dr. Oliver snarled. "I'm fine. I'm going to finish this stupid machine and get the kids home. Then everything can go back to the way it was."

"And what way is that?" said Zordon.

"Back to getting the kids through this in one piece," Dr. Oliver said. "Making sure they survive being power rangers."

"And when the threat is over?" Zordon asked.

"I don't know," Dr. Oliver snapped. "And it's not like it makes a difference for you."

"Tommy," Zordon said. "What is really bothering you?"

Dr. Oliver leaned against the console and closed his eyes, clutching it so hard his knuckles turned white. Trying to relax, he took a deep breath. But it wasn't working.

"Tommy," Zordon said again.

Growling in frustration, Dr. Oliver slammed a fist into the console before whipping around to look at Zordon.

"You want to know what's wrong?" he snapped. "Everything is wrong. Everything since—since. Agh!"

Dr. Oliver paced back and forth for a moment, trying to organize the thoughts racing through his head. He stopped, leaning against the console again, hanging his head.

"Everything is just—I—I'm tired," he finally said.

Turning around, Dr. Oliver sunk down to the ground, leaning back against the console. He looked up at Zordon, shaking his head.

"Why, Zordon?" he asked. "Why choose me? Jason was already there. Why would you choose me? Everyone expects me to be able to fix everything. To make it better. And I'm trying, but I just—I can't do this anymore. Everyone keeps saying I'm like you. That I'm their Zordon. But I'm not. I'm not you. I can't do this. Not alone. I'm just—I'm too tired to do this anymore…"

"Tommy," Zordon said. "You were never meant to do this alone."

"But I am!" Dr. Oliver snapped. "Everyone else left. Everyone dumped it all on me. And I tried leaving it behind and look what happened. I'm right back in the middle of it! Their fearless leader once again."

There was a long pause, the only sound was Dr. Oliver's heavy breathing. After a little while, his breathing began to slow down. He sighed, shaking his head.

"But it's not their fault. And I can't expect the kids to stay around forever," he said. "I won't let them. They have too much potential to get stuck in this life. Kira has her music and Conner has soccer. Ethan, well he's going to do amazing things with technology. And who knows where Trent's art will take him. After they're gone though…I'm alone. Again."

Dr. Oliver sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"I can't do this anymore," he muttered, shaking his head.

There was another long pause, but Dr. Oliver didn't speak again. No one moved.

_I thought he had changed so much when I first saw him, _Zordon thought. _But he really hasn't. He hides it well, but inside he's still unsure. Still the same scared young man he was in this time. Afraid to do this alone. _ Zordon finally spoke again, looking sadly at the tired ranger.

"I'm sorry, Tommy," Zordon said.

Dr. Oliver didn't answer. Exhausted, he had fallen asleep against the console. Alpha left the room for a moment. He came back with a blanket and draped it over the sleeping ranger. Unseen by anyone, Billy teleported back out of the command center.


	16. Day Twelve

_Hey for those who read chapter 15 and think this looks fimilar pop bak and reread because there was a mistake in the posting (my bad!). This is the real chapter 16, so sorry about that hope it clears everything up! Keep telling us what you think we love to hear form you!  
_

**DAY TWELVE-Tuesday**

"It had better be here," Zach muttered, teleporting into the command center. "If it's not, I'm so dead."

He had woken up that morning to discover his backpack was not in his bedroom. And all of his homework was in it. Not finding it anywhere in the house, he had come to the conclusion that he must have left it in the command center. Looking around for it, Zach saw Dr. Oliver on the floor, leaning against the console. There was a blanket draped over him. Frowning, Zach went to check and make sure Dr. Oliver was alright. Leaning over, Zach touched the other ranger's shoulder. Dr. Oliver sprang awake, leaping immediately into a low spin kick that knocked Zach backward and off his feet. Landing upright, Dr. Oliver looked around; leaning on the console and trying to slow his heart rate back down. He stared down at Zach in surprise.

"Zach!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Where did the blanket come from?"

"I forgot my backpack," Zach groaned, lying on the floor. "I saw you sitting there and wanted to make sure you were ok. The blanket was there when I got here."

Dr. Oliver glanced over at Alpha, who was recharging. He smiled faintly, shaking his head. Sighing, he walked over to Zach and pulled him to his feet.

"Are you alright, Zach?" Dr. Oliver asked.

"I'll be fine," Zach muttered. "But I'm never waking you up again. Next time you can stay on the floor."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Dr. Oliver said, running a hand through his hair. "I don't react well to surprises anymore."

"I got that," Zach grumbled, looking around for his backpack again.

He found it and swung it onto his back, and then he realized Billy's backpack was still there too. Zach frowned, picking up the backpack.

"Billy's backpack is still here," he said in surprise. "I'd better take it. He's gonna have a meltdown, if he hasn't had one already."

"Get to school, Zach," Dr. Oliver said, shaking his head. "You're gonna be late."

"Oh! Right!" Zach exclaimed, teleporting out.

Taking a deep breath, Dr. Oliver looked around the command center.

"Better get back at it," he sighed.

Picking up the blanket, Dr. Oliver folded it and set it to the side before going back to work on the device.

Billy stood next to his locker, staring at Tommy and Jason who were talking just down the hallway. He was still shaken up by everything he had heard last night. So focused on watching Jason and Tommy, he didn't hear Zach come running over.

"Billy!" Zach said.

Billy jumped, spinning around to look at Zach.

"Zach!" he exclaimed. "I—uh—what is it?"

"You forgot your backpack at the command center last night," Zach said, handing over the backpack. "Thought you'd want it."

"Oh, right," Billy said distractedly, looking over at Tommy and Jason again. "Wait! When were you at the command center?"

"Just now," Zach said. "And by the way, never wake up Tommy."

"What?" Billy asked, confused.

"Dr. O was asleep on the floor when I got there," Zach said. "I wanted to make sure he was ok, but when I touched his shoulder he kicked me halfway across the room! So, fair warning. Wake up Tommy at your own peril."

"What's 'at your own peril'?" Tommy asked.

He and Jason walked over, joining Zach and Billy.

"Waking you up, dude," Zach said. "You just attacked me out of nowhere."

"Zach," Tommy said. "I haven't seen you since last night."

"I mean older you," Zach said. "You—he was asleep in the command center. I was just checking to make sure he was alive and next thing I know I'm flying across the room!"

Jason started laughing and Tommy just shook his head, trying not to laugh.

"I'm never waking you up again, dude," Zach said to Tommy.

"And I'm not arguing with that," Tommy said with a grin.

Jason was still laughing when Trini and Kim joined them. Billy hadn't said a word. He was just standing there, his face pale. Trini looked at him in concern.

"Billy, are you alright?" she asked.

He shook himself and looked at his watch.

"Affirmative," he answered. "I—I've got to go."

"Go where?" Tommy asked. "Class is about to start."

"I—I'll meet you there," Billy said, bolting down the hallway.

The other rangers stared after him in surprise. That wasn't normal Billy behavior.

"What do you think is wrong?" Trini asked.

"I don't know," Jason said, frowning. "But it'll have to wait until after class. Let's go before we're late."

The bell rang and they hurried to class.

Conner stumbled into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Kira, Trent, and Ethan were already at the table eating breakfast. Grabbing a poptart, Conner joined them.

"Where's Dr. O?" he asked, yawning.

The other three exchanged glances.

"I haven't seen him yet this morning," Kira said. "What about you two?"

"Nope," Ethan answered. "But I don't usually see him til he's back from his morning run."

"I don't either," said Trent. "But he's usually back by now. Maybe he's in his room?"

Conner shrugged.

"I guess we'd better check," he said. "Maybe he has good news for us."

Trent hopped up from the table and left the kitchen. A few minutes later he came back and just stopped in the doorway.

"Trent, what's wrong?" Kira asked, frowning.

"He's not here," Trent answered. "Dr. O isn't in the cabin. I can't find any sign that he even came home last night."

"What?" Ethan exclaimed. "Then where is he? He's always here first thing in the morning."

"You don't think he's been kidnapped again, do you?" Kira said, looking around at the boys.

"I don't know," Conner said grimly. "But we'd better get moving."

Abandoning their breakfast, the teens ran to get dressed. A few minutes later, they all met outside and climbed in the truck to head into Angel Grove. Trent had gotten the keys from Dr. O the night before, so he drove.

"So what are we going to do?" Ethan asked. "The command center is in the middle of the desert and we can't teleport without help. So even if Dr. O is there, we have no way to check."

"I guess we'll have to ask one of the others," Kira said. "By the time we get to Angel Grove it should be just about time for their lunch."

The others agreed and Trent focused on driving, trying to get them there as quickly as possible. When they got to Angel Grove he parked at the youth center like they normally did. Climbing out, they made sure no one was around.

"I'm gonna go find one of the other rangers," Conner said quietly. "You guys wait here. I'll let you know if I find Dr. O."

Before anyone could protest, Conner sped off toward the high school. He found the other rangers sitting at a table eating lunch. They all jumped when he came to a stop right next to their table.

"Have any of you seen Dr. O?" Conner asked before they could say anything. "He wasn't at the cabin this morning."

"I saw him at the command center a few hours ago," Zach said. "Why don't I take you up there real quick?"

"Thanks, Zach," Conner said.

No one was watching, so Zach grabbed Conner's arm and teleported them both to the command center. When they arrived, the command center was empty except for Alpha and Zordon.

"Great, just great," Conner exclaimed. "He's missing. Again! We're never going to get home at this rate."

"Young red ranger," Zordon said.

"Huh?" Conner said, turning to look at Zordon in surprise.

"Dr. Oliver has returned to the cabin for a change of clothes," Zordon said.

"Oh," said Conner. "Umm… Thank you—Zordon."

Zach started laughing.

"The look on your face," he sputtered. "That was great."

"Let's go," Conner snapped. "You have school, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Zach said. "I'll take you back to the youth center first."

Teleporting out, Zach dropped Conner off with the others before heading back to school. He had just told them where Dr. Oliver was when the ranger in question appeared next to them. All four teens jumped in surprise.

"Dr. O!" Ethan said. "Where have you been?"

"I was taking a shower," Dr. Oliver said. "Why did you guys leave without me?"

"Because when we woke up you weren't there," Kira said. "We thought something had happened to you again."

"I'm fine," Dr. Oliver said, shaking his head. "But I do have good news. As long as the final test sequence goes well, the device is finished. We'll do the final test once Billy and the others are out of school."

"Yes!" Conner said, punching the air. "Time to go home."

The other three were just as relieved.

"So what are we gonna do while we wait?" Trent asked.

"How about study," Dr. Oliver said, smiling.

"Aww… Dr. O!" all four teens said in unison.

"You guys haven't touched the material in almost two weeks," Dr. Oliver said. "Which puts you behind the rest of the class. So I'm going to be nice and give you some hints on what to study. So come on, time to hit the library."

Groaning, the four teens followed Dr. Oliver as he led the way to the library.

As the last bell rang, Jason's communicator went off. He and the other rangers stepped off to the side.

"What is it Zordon?" Jason asked.

_"Tommy," _Zordon said. _"I need you to go get the other rangers. The rest of you join me in the command center."_

"Right away, Zordon," Jason said. "You good, Tommy?"

"Yeah," Tommy said. "We'll meet you guys there."

Tommy turned and headed toward the youth center to look for the other ranger team as Jason and the others teleported to the command center. They immediately went to stand in front of Zordon. Billy stared nervously up at him, but kept glancing at the floor.

"Rangers," Zordon said. "There is something you must hear. Now, before your memories are locked away."

"What is it, Zordon?" Jason asked. "And why would you want it locked away?"

"Because now is not the time for you to understand this, and it is clear that my time on earth will not be as long as I once thought" Zordon answered.

The rangers looked up at Zordon, surprised by his answer.

"When each of you was chosen," Zordon continued. "It was because of a special characteristic you each had. But it was also because of your loyalty to each other. You need to remember that loyalty. Not just to those standing here, but to those who are not present and those who will come in the future. Remember, none of you were meant to do this alone."

Confused, the rangers exchanged glances. Billy looked down at his feet, understanding better than the others what Zordon was saying. But before any of the others could ask what Zordon meant, Tommy arrived with the Dino Thunder team in tow. The four teens were talking excitedly about going home. Dr. Oliver shook his head, moving straight to the device.

"Ready, Billy?" he asked. "One final test and it should be ready."

Taking a deep breath, Billy nodded and hurried over to the computer. The room was silent as he activated the testing sequence. The device hummed as it warmed up. There was some beeping and the lights flashed before it went quiet again. For a moment, no one spoke.

"Would someone say something?" Conner finally burst out. "Did it work?"

Dr. Oliver turned around and smiled.

"It worked," he said. "We can go home."

All four Dino teens sighed in relief and hurried over to stand next to him.

"Now," Dr. Oliver said. "I think there were a few things Billy wanted to explain before we leave."

"Yes," Billy said quietly, turning around to look at everyone. "There are."

Taking a deep breath, he looked around again.

"The process will occur in several stages," he said. "I didn't want to block all of the neurotransmitters in one stage because that could lead to an information overload when the fluctuation in the time space continuum is corrected. As Dr. Oliver is not aware of all of our activities as the time of the disturbance, we thought it would be safer if the memories returned gradually."

"That way if one of you is in the middle of something potentially dangerous," Dr. Oliver added, "the chances of you getting hurt are greatly reduced."

"Yes," said Billy. "Now, as I see no reason to delay, if you could all form two circles around the device. Dr. Oliver and his team need to stand in the inner circle and place a hand on the device."

All of the rangers complied. Full of nervous energy, the Dino teens make a circle with Dr. Oliver. The each placed a hand on the device while the other rangers made a circle around them.

"Oh, wait a minute," Dr. Oliver said.

He took the communicator off of his wrist and turned to hand it to Billy.

"Here you go, Billy," he said. "Thanks for letting me use it while I was here."

Billy shook his head, waving for Dr. Oliver to keep it.

"You keep it," he said. "Maybe it can be of use to you in the future."

Smiling, Dr. Oliver put it back on his wrist and turned back to the device.

"Everyone needs to keep their eyes on the device one I begin the sequence," Billy said. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes," the Dino teens said together.

Dr. Oliver nodded and the rest of the rangers chimed in their agreement. Taking a deep breath, Billy hit the button to launch the program and quickly took his place in the circle. The machine started humming more loudly than before and lights started flashing. The lights grew brighter and brighter as the volume of humming increased, allowing them to hear distinct patterns. As the machine seemed to reach a peak in its energy level, there was a bright flash of light and the Dino Thunder rangers disappeared.


	17. Present day

**Present Time**

When the light cleared, the Dino Thunder team looked around, blinking to clear their eyes. Once he was able to focus on his surroundings, Dr. Oliver took one look around and groaned.

"Umm… Where are we?" Ethan asked, staring around in surprise.

They had all been hoping to end up back where they had started. But that wasn't the case.

"The command center," Dr. Oliver sighed. "We're at the command center."

"This doesn't look like the command center, Dr. O," Conner said.

Rubbing a hand across his forehead, Dr. Oliver looked around again. His eyes paused for a moment on the memorial stone that still lay where Jason had place it years ago.

"It was blown up years ago," Dr. Oliver said.

"Blew up?" Trent exclaimed.

"Wait a minute," said Ethan. "We're in the middle of the desert?"

"Yep," Dr. Oliver said. "Let's get hiking. We've got a ways to go."

Groaning, the teens started following Dr. Oliver down. Ethan stared wistfully at his communicator.

"Do you think these work yet?" he said.

"Nope," Dr. Oliver answered without stopping. "Network is too far away."

"What about a cell phone?" Kira said hopefully.

"No service," he said. "Not for a while."

Grumbling, they continued to follow.

.

The doorbell rang and Hayley hurried up from the lab. She opened the door and smiled.

"Billy!" she said. "What are you doing here so early? I didn't think you'd get here til this afternoon."

"I was running ahead of schedule," he said. "So I thought I'd drop in early and surprise Tommy, too."

"Well come in," Hayley said, stepping back into the house. "You can put your stuff in the guest room upstairs. Second door on the left. I'll be down in the lab when you're done. I've got to get back to the monitor. There was an attack near the school about fifteen minutes ago."

"I'll meet you down there," Billy said. "Door is in Tommy's office, right?"

"Yep," Hayley said. "Use the small replica dinosaur skeleton to open it."

Billy headed upstairs as Hayley hurried back to her computer. When Billy joined her a little while later, she was staring at the computer in confusion.

"What's wrong, Hayley?" Billy asked.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I've just got the strangest feeling of déjà vu. Will you watch this for a moment? I'm going to go get a drink."

Billy nodded, taking Hayley's place at the computer. On screen he could see Kira, Ethan, and Conner getting ready to fire the Z-Rex Blaster. He watched intently. It had been a while since he had seen power rangers in action. Billy could see Trent fighting with the monster, a strange creature covered in clocks.

"Where's Tommy?" Billy muttered, not seeing the black ranger. "Oh. There he—"

There was a bright flash of light from the screen. Billy blinked in surprise, shaking his head. Looking back at the screen, he frowned. The rangers were gone.

_Angel Grove_, the thought flashed through his head.

Billy put a hand to his head, frowning. Then his eyes widened.

"Hayley!" he exclaimed, running for the stairs, stumbling as he went.

"Please tell me we don't have to walk all the way back to Reefside," Conner muttered.

There were walking down a dirt road now, heading in the direction of civilization. At least according to Dr. Oliver. Up ahead, Dr. Oliver spotted a payphone at a scenic viewing point.

"Finally," he muttered. "Does anyone have a quarter?"

They stopped by the payphone and everyone started digging around in their pockets.

"Here's one!" Ethan exclaimed, fishing one out.

He handed it to Dr. Oliver. Picking up the phone, Dr. Oliver went to put in the quarter and froze. Sighing, he put the phone back on the hook and handed the quarter back to Ethan.

"Disconnected," he said, shaking his head.

The teens groaned.

"Come on," Dr. Oliver said. "Let's keep moving."

Upstairs in the kitchen, Hayley sighed and turned around to head back down to the lab with her glass of water. She had the strangest feeling that something was wrong. Shaking her head, she walked down the hallway.

"Hayley!" she heard Billy yell.

Frowning in concern, Hayley hurried to meet him.

"Billy, what's wrong?" she asked. "Is the team alright?"

"It appears," Billy said, "that there has been an involuntary fluctuation in the time-space continuum. My cerebral cortex has had a sudden influx of regained memorandum."

Hayley stared at Billy for a moment in shock.

"Ok," she said, taking a deep breath and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I got part of that, but let's start again. What happened?"

Billy shook himself, trying to clear his head.

"Sorry, Hayley," he said. "I seem to have had a momentary relapse into a past speech pattern. The team is fine. Or at least they should be if the journey back was successful. I suppose we'll have to speak to them to know for sure."

"Journey back from where?" Hayley exclaimed. "Where did they go?"

"1993," Billy answered. "The year the power rangers came to be."

Tired, thirsty, and hungry, the Dino Thunder team finally stumbled into Angel Grove. They kept moving, all of them heading toward the youth center without a second thought.

"Well that wasn't too bad," Dr. Oliver said, glancing at his watch. "It only took us three hours to hike from the command center."

The teens stared at him, too tired to complain a lot. Ethan pulled a phone out of his pocket, fiddling with it for a moment.

"Is that your cell phone?" Dr. Oliver asked. "You didn't have it in my classroom, did you?"

"What you don't know won't hurt you," Ethan answered. "Yes! It still has power."

Reaching over, Dr. Oliver plucked it out of Ethan's hand.

"Hey!" Ethan exclaimed, but Dr. Oliver ignored him.

"Alright," he said. "First things first. Conner, here you go."

Pulling his keys out of his pocket, Dr. Oliver tossed them to Conner.

"Go get the truck," he said. "It's still at the cabin. I'm going to call Hayley and let her know we're alright."

"Dr. O," Conner groaned. "Can't I at least get something to eat first?"

"Yes," Dr. Oliver sighed. "Come on. Oh. You can all use your money freely now."

"Yes!" Conner said, pulling out his money. "But I still only have five dollars…"

The rest of the team rolled their eyes, pulling Conner with them as they headed toward the youth center.

"Oh thank goodness," Hayley said, sitting down on a chair in the living room. "I have been trying to get a hold of you for hours."

Her phone had just rung. Practically sprinting across the room to where it was plugged in, Hayley had been overjoyed to hear Dr. Oliver's voice on the other end of the line.

"Where are you, Tommy?" she asked. "I can't find you anywhere on my network."

_"Angel Grove," _he answered wearily. _"Conner just left to get my truck from the cabin, so he'll be back in about an hour. As soon as he gets here, we'll all be on our way home."_

"Alright," Hayley said. "Drive safe. Try not to kill anyone on your way home."

_"I'll do my best," _Dr. Oliver answered.

Putting down the phone, Hayley sighed in relief. Billy came downstairs from the guest room and joined her, taking a seat on the couch.

"I just got off the phone with Jason," he said. "They should all be here in a few hours. Did you get a hold of Tommy?"

"Yes," she said, frowning. "Why were you talking to Jason? And why on earth are they coming here?"

"They need to be here," Billy answered.

"No, they don't," Hayley said shortly.

Billy held up his hands, gesturing for Hayley to calm down.

"Hayley," he said. "Let me explain."


	18. Home again

"Aspirin!" Dr. Oliver called out, walking into the house. "I need aspirin! And water—you know what. Forget the water. How about a beer?"

Hayley shook her head, rolling her eyes as she walked out of the kitchen with a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water.

"You don't have any alcohol," she said. "Remember?"

"Right," he muttered.

Ignoring the proffered medication and drink for a moment, Dr. Oliver pulled Hayley into a hug. The teens piled into the house behind him, chatting excitedly as they headed into the living room. He didn't notice when they stopped talking.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," he mumbled, looking up to take the aspirin and water. "I've been stuck with them for two weeks."

He gestured toward the teens with one hand, looking up in the direction they had gone.

"Them and the teenage versions of—What are they doing in my house?"

Dr. Oliver glared in the direction of the living room. Jason, Trini, Zach, Kim, and Billy were standing there, watching him.

"I was invited," Billy said, holding up his hand.

"Yes, you were," Dr. Oliver said. "They weren't. So why are they here?"

"I called them," Billy said. "We all need to talk."

Grimacing, Dr. Oliver shook his head.

"That's it," he said. "Beer isn't going to cut it. I need something stronger. Do we have any scotch?"

"Wow," Hayley said. "You really aren't in a good mood. But no, we don't have anything. You won't let me have it in the house."

"I'm going to the store," Dr. Oliver muttered, trying to hand the water and aspirin back to Hayley.

But instead of taking them, she snatched the car keys from where they were hanging out of his pocket and stuck them in her own.

"You're in no shape to drive," she said, pulling him toward the living room.

"Hayley," he groaned. "I cannot have this conversation with just water."

"Too bad," she said. "Now take the aspirin and have a seat."

Walking into the living room, Dr. Oliver continued to mutter to himself as he took some of the aspirin and downed the glass of water. He set both the empty glass and the medicine bottle on the end table and sat down in one of the recliners. Hayley reached to take the glass to the kitchen, but Dr. Oliver grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto the chair with him. She tried standing back up, but he kept his arms firmly wrapped around her waist.

"Ok," Hayley said, smiling as she shook her head. "I guess I'll sit down too."

The teens had already piled onto the couch, just as surprised to see the other rangers there. Jason and the others trailed into the living room after Dr. Oliver and Hayley. They moved to stand on the other side of the room. Billy paused, standing in between the two groups. He looked back and forth between them, trying to decide where to go. Kira, seeing his indecision, reached over and shoved Conner of the couch.

"Billy," she said with a smile. "You can sit here."

"Kira!" Conner exclaimed, glaring up at her.

"Oh, you're fine," she said, smirking at him. "Billy needed a seat."

Shaking his head smiling, Billy took the seat on the couch with the teens. The room was silent for a while as the two groups studied each other. Jason was glaring at Billy, who was sitting on the edge of the couch looking nervously between Dr. Oliver and the other four original rangers.

"Well, this is awkward," Conner said after a few minutes of silence..

He was still sitting on the floor. Looking around again, Billy sighed.

"Listen," Billy finally said, addressing the other rangers. "I know all of you are trying to process the incoming memories. But those memories are the reason I called all of you."

"And what's so important about them that you felt the need to threaten us to get us here, Billy?" Jason snapped. "I really don't see any need to be here."

"And it's obvious that Tommy doesn't want us here," Kim said, looking over at Dr. Oliver.

Hayley had made herself comfortable on the chair with him. Dr. Oliver's arms were still wrapped around her waist and he was avoiding making eye contact with the other rangers.

"So what's wrong, Billy?" Trini asked. "I mean, we didn't even know you were going to be here. This is a surprise for all of us."

Billy took a deep breath, glancing over at Dr. Oliver and then back at the other rangers.

"We all need to talk," he said. "There are a lot of things that have remained unspoken over the years. Those things are coming back to haunt some of us. Especially now, with what happened this morning."

"Tommy's trip to the past hasn't changed anything," Jason said. "Things still happened."

"And those are the things we need to get over," Billy said. "Mistakes have been made on both sides, but it's time to move on."

"I tried moving on," Jason snapped, glaring at Dr. Oliver. "But every time I tried, there was always something else. It isn't my fault he can't ever be happy."

Dr. Oliver didn't say a word. He looked away, burying his face in Hayley's shoulder. Both men were tense. Jason was clenching his fists. The teens frowned at Jason, not liking what he was saying. Looking back at Dr. Oliver, they waited for him to defend himself. He never let anyone else push him around.

"Jason," Billy said. "Listen for a min—"

"No, Billy," Jason snapped. "I'm done listening. And no one is saying anything. Bringing us here was a stupid idea. He just doesn't care about us anymore."

Dr. Oliver tensed up even more, his grip on Hayley's waist loosening as he clenched his own fists. He still didn't make eye contact with the others, shielding himself behind Hayley.

"Now that's not fair, Jason," Billy frowned. "Tommy cares about all of us."

"Oh, is that so?" Jason snarled. "He has a funny way of showing it. Not talking to us for years on end. And then when he does finally see us, all he wants is for us to leave. Except you, apparently. You've somehow managed to stay in his favor."

Dr. Oliver let go of Hayley, his breathing getting heavier as he tried to keep his cool. Hayley, sensing a blow up, stood up. She stayed next to Dr. Oliver, putting a hand on his shoulder as he stared down at his clenched fists.

"But you are here," Billy said, looking between Dr. Oliver and the others. "So why can't we just let the past go and move forward? What happened then isn't important anymore."

"That's not the point, Billy," Jason snapped. "The point is that none of us are important to him. Maybe we were once, but now all he cares about is the glory of being a power ranger. Why else would he come back now?"

It was the last straw for Dr. Oliver. Leaping out of his seat, he started laying into Jason.

"Glory?" he yelled. "You think I'm in this for the glory? What glory, Jason? No one knows who I am. No one thanks me in the streets for saving them. I put my life on the line every day without thanks, because everyone just assumes we're going to be there. And you want to know what else? I do care. That's the problem. Maybe if I could stop caring everything would be fine. But I can't. Unlike the rest of you, I can't just walk away from the people who need me. And I've been here, year after year while everyone else kept walking away. I still hold to the code Zordon gave us. Do you?"

There was a pause as Dr. Oliver and Jason glared at each other. Dr. Oliver was panting, and both men had their fists clenched.

"Reality check, Tommy," Jason hissed. "You may hold to the code, but you were never one of Zordon's chosen. He picked us. We got stuck with you."

Everyone in the room froze for a moment, staring at Jason in shock. Dr. Oliver threw his hands up in the air and stormed out of the room. Chaos ensued. Billy ran out of the room after Dr. Oliver. The teens jumped up from the couch. Kira and Trent grabbed Hayley's arms, stopping her from attacking Jason. Ethan tried to grab Conner, but missed. Moving faster than anyone could see, Conner launched himself at Jason and hit him with a cross-hook right in the jaw. Jason stumbled backward into the other rangers. They caught him, holding him back from attacking an angry Conner.

"Tommy!" Billy said, running down the hall after Dr. Oliver. "Tommy, wait."

Dr. Oliver paused, spinning to look at Billy.

"What?" he snapped. "Haven't you already done enough for one day?"

"I'm sorry," Billy said. "It wasn't supposed to be like this…"

"What did you think was going to happen?" Dr. Oliver asked. "They stopped caring years ago. Nothing is going to change that now. They only see what they want to see and nothing else. I'm done talking. I'm done trying. I'm just—I'm done."

"Tommy—"

"Drop it, Billy," Dr. Oliver snapped. "It's over. I'm not doing this anymore."

Turning his back on Billy, Dr. Oliver headed straight up the stairs. Billy stared after him for a moment, and then hurried back to the living room.

"How dare you!" Conner yelled at Jason. "You have no right to talk to Dr. O like that! He's always telling us about you guys and how great you are. I thought you were supposed to be someone I could look up to. I was wrong. Dr. O is a greater ranger than you'll ever be!"

"He came back because we needed him," Ethan added, grabbing one of Conner's arms and trying to hold him back. "Dr. O didn't choose this. He didn't have a choice. The Dino gems choose you. We fell into this on accident. What was he supposed to do, let us die?"

Hayley snapped out of her initial rage, glaring daggers at Jason.

"You can let go," she told Kira and Trent. "I'm fine."

Hesitantly, the two teens let go. Trent moved to help hold Conner back, but Kira hovered by Hayley. Billy walked back into the room. Hayley looked at him expectantly, but he just shook his head and glanced back toward the stairs. Taking a deep breath, she turned to glare at Jason again.

"You have no idea what you just did," she hissed.

Without another word, she stormed out of the room. It was silent for a moment as Conner caught his breath to continue his tirade.

"Then why didn't he just leave the gems where they were?" Jason snapped. "Why did he have to be the one to guard them?"

"So what was he supposed to do?" Conner snarled. "Rebury them for Mesogog to find? Great idea. We'd all be dinosaurs by now."

"Hey, if we're going to be dinosaurs," Ethan said. "I call the raptor."

Conner glared at him.

"Just saying," Ethan said with a shrug.

"Listen here, kid," Jason said. "You have no idea what you're talking about. So just stay out of it."

Conner bristled, trying to pull away from Ethan and Trent. They were struggling to hold on to him.

"I'm going to show you what I'm talking about," Conner growled.

Billy looked around the room. Taking a deep breath, he tried to talk. But Jason interrupted before he could say anything.

"I'm not scared of Tommy's little pet red ranger," Jason said. "He's got you all trained to think you're the leader, but he's the one controlling everything. Like I said, he just wants the attention."

Conner froze in shock. The other teens stared at Jason too. Suddenly, they all started yelling at Jason. Ethan and Trent looked and each other and let go of Conner. He immediately jumped toward Jason, tackling him to the ground. Looking around in frustration, Billy snapped.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled. "Everyone sit down. NOW!"

The others all froze, staring at Billy.

"Wow," Ethan said. "That was an awesome Dr. O impression."

Billy whipped around and growled at them. Glancing at each other, the teens dropped back down on the couch. Trent and Ethan pulling Conner with them. The original rangers just kept staring at Billy. They had never heard him yell at them before.

"Billy—" Trini said.

"Sit. Down." Billy said.

The original rangers sat down on the opposite side of the room, still staring at Billy.

"I've never seen Billy mad like this," Zach muttered quietly.

Nodding in agreement, the others continued to stare mutely at Billy. He took a deep breath, glaring around the room for a moment. No one spoke.

"That's better," Billy said. "Now, all of you are going to sit and listen."

"Now wait a minu—" Jason started to say.

"No," Billy snapped. "It's time you understood some things. You've been carrying an unnecessary grudge for far too long, and Tommy's the one who's suffering for it."

"His suffering isn't my problem," Jason snapped. "If he's unhappy, it's his own fault."

Billy whipped around to glare at Jason as Conner started to leap off the couch. Trent and Ethan pulled him back down.

"It is your problem, Jason," Billy snapped back. "Because all of you are the reason he's unhappy."

"Billy, what are you talking about?" Kim asked. "I mean, I know we've had some problems, but how can we have affected him that much. We've barely talked to him for the past—however many years it's been."

"Exactly," Billy said. "That's my point. All of us, even me, left him to carry on by himself. He's watched friend after friend walk away. And every time he thought someone might come back, they disappeared again. Do any of you even know what Tommy does nowadays? Besides being a power ranger, I mean. You should, considering he told you when he came back to the past."

Ethan shot his hand up into the air.

"I know! I know!" he said, waving his arm around. "I know this answer!"

Sighing, Billy turned his head to glare at the teens.

"Not you," he said. "If I want one of you to answer a question, I'll ask you by name."

"That's not cool," Ethan muttered.

"Yeah," Conner said. "Why can't any of our science tests ever be this easy?"

"Because Dr. O isn't that nice," Ethan grumbled.

The original rangers looked at the teens in surprise.

"Wait, Tommy is a science teacher?" Zach exclaimed. "I think I remember something about that… but it's fuzzy…"

"Duh," Conner answered. "First period science. Well, he teaches all the other ones, but we're in first period."

"Conner!" Billy said.

"Right," said Conner. "Shutting up."

Billy groaned, rubbing one hand on his forehead.

"No wonder Tommy keeps that giant bottle of aspirin," he muttered. "Dealing with this every day."

"He has one at school, too," Ethan said. "And don't forget about the antacids."

The originals looked over at the teens.

"Is school really that stressful?" Zach asked.

"Well, when you randomly receive calls from past rangers, are constantly on alert for an attack, and have to deal with evil parents and principals, I would say it's stressful," Conner said. "Oops. Sorry Trent. Ouch!"

Trent had just kicked Conner in the shin for the evil parent comment.

"What?" Conner exclaimed, reaching down to rub his shin. "It's not my fault your dad has gone all Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jekyll on us."

Trent just glared at him, shaking his head. Kira sighed.

"Conner," she said. "It's Dr. JEKYLL and Mr. HYDE. You really need to pay attention in class."

"Oh, right," Conner said.

"Anyways," Billy interrupted. "You guys really can't stay on topic, can you?"

"No, we're teenagers," Ethan said.

Sighing, Billy turned back to the other rangers.

"As you can see, none of you have any clue of what Tommy's life entails," Billy said. "So none of you have any right to criticize his decisions or actions when you know nothing about what he's been through."

"We've all been through those things," Jason said. "How is Tommy any different?"

"Because he's been doing it alone," Billy said. "We all left him, at some point or another, and he's had to carry on the fight by himself."

The rangers were silent for a moment, thinking about what Billy was saying.

"But someone always stepped up to take the empty space," Trini said. "Tommy was never really alone."

"It's hard not to be when your friends keep walking away," Billy said. "And I did it too. I left for another planet. And at a time when I probably shouldn't have. But I thought you were going to be there for him, Jason."

Jason frowned.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"You were the gold ranger," Billy said. "You were part of the team. And even after you lost the powers, you could have stayed. Like I did. Supporting them even though you couldn't fight yourself. But instead you took off and left Tommy to lead them alone. And it wasn't the first time you left. What do you think happened when you up and decided to leave the first time? Who did you think was going to take your place?"

The room was silent again.


	19. Remembering the past

Hayley hurried up the stairs and went straight to Dr. Oliver's room. She pushed the door open without knocking and went inside. He was pacing around the room. When Dr. Oliver saw her, he stopped moving. Before she could say anything though, he moved forward and pulled her into a hug, kissing her. Hayley wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back. They stayed like that for a moment and then he loosened his grip and dropped his head onto her shoulder.

"I can't do this anymore," he mumbled. "It's too much. I can't do it…"

Gently, Hayley led him over to the bed.

"You need to sleep," she said softly. "Come on."

Holding on to Hayley's hand, Dr. Oliver climbed onto his bed. Hayley curled up next to him, not letting go.

"It doesn't matter what happens," she said. "I'm not going anywhere. I've always been there and it's not going to change just because you don't want to be a power ranger anymore."

He didn't answer, but his grip on her hand tightened. Hayley smiled, looking at him thoughtfully. He hadn't been this depressed in a long time. The first time she had seen him like this had come as quite a shock, but she had handled it the best she could given the circumstances.

_Hayley paced around the apartment, glancing up at the clock every so often._

_ "He is so dead when he gets back," she muttered to herself. "Three days is too long to disappear without warning. If he doesn't get back soon, I'm going to find him and drag him back by the ear."_

_ Hearing the key turning in the lock, Hayley paused and turned to face the door, crossing her arms over her chest. Tommy stumbled into the apartment, dropping his keys and coat by the door. Looking up, he froze. He stared at Hayley for a moment. He hadn't been expecting to see her in his apartment. _

_ "What are you doing here?" he asked wearily, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck._

_ "Well, when you didn't show up for our study session two days ago, I figured you'd gotten caught up with your friends," Hayley answered. "But after two more days of no word I decided something was wrong. You were only supposed to be gone one day, Tommy."_

_ "Sorry, Hayley," he muttered. "But—wait a minute. How did you get in here?"_

_ "I know where you keep the spare key," she said, shrugging._

_ Tommy shook his head, looking around the apartment. After a moment, he started heading to his room, stumbling as he passed Hayley. He paused by the couch, frowning as he stared at it._

_ "Hayley," he said. "Have you been sleeping on my couch?"_

_ A pillow, blanket, and small suitcase were in a pile at one end of the couch. Hayley shook her head._

_ "No," she answered. "I only just came over this morning when you still weren't answering your cell phone. I wasn't planning on leaving until you came back or called me. And if I hadn't heard from you by tomorrow I was going to come looking."_

_ Tommy leaned wearily against the back of the couch, not answering. Frowning, Hayley studied him. There were dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days. His skin was dry and red and his lips were chapped. Sighing, Hayley dropped her arms. _

_ "Tommy, why don't you sit down?" she said, taking his arm. "I was going to kill you for worrying me, but you already look half dead so I'll have to wait."_

_ She tugged on his arm but Tommy didn't move. Hayley sighed, shaking her head._

_ "Where have you been?" she asked, trying to break him out of his stupor._

_ Tommy turned to look at her._

_ "Out in the desert," he finally mumbled. "I was trying to clear my head."_

_ "And how did that go, you idiot?" she said, trying to move him toward a chair again._

_ "I—I don't know," he answered, shaking his head. "But the memorial—afterward—I just had to get away. I couldn't—I couldn't just come back."_

_ Hayley waited for a moment for him to elaborate, but Tommy just stared at the floor. _

_ "Alright, that's it," Hayley announced. "No more sulking."_

_ "I'm not sulking," Tommy protested._

_ Hayley started pushing him toward his bedroom._

_ "Yes you are," she said. "Now go take a shower and change. I'm going to find something for you to eat, because I'm sure you've eaten practically nothing since you left."_

_ "Hayley," Tommy said._

_ "Nope, no arguing," she said. "Just go shower."_

_ She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him as she silently dared him to say no. Grumbling, Tommy finally complied and headed into his room. Hayley waited until she could hear the shower running and then went to the kitchen to find something for him to eat. When he emerged from his room a while later, she had food sitting out on the table. Tommy started to say something, but Hayley silenced him with a look and he sat down to eat. She sat down at the table with him. For a little while, neither one spoke._

_ "Now, what happened?" Hayley finally asked. "I know the news of your mentor's death really shook you up. But what on earth possessed you to go wandering around in the desert for almost three days?"_

_ Tommy paused, trying to come up with an answer._

_ "I—I don't know," he snapped at last. "I was frustrated and angry and not thinking."_

_ "Well, now we're getting somewhere," Hayley said. "Now the question is why?"_

_ "Why what?" Tommy asked, frowning._

_ "Why were you frustrated and angry?" Hayley asked. _

_ Tommy didn't answer. Sighing, Hayley stood up and walked over to the fridge. Opening the door and reaching inside, she pulled out a bottle of scotch and then grabbed two glasses out of the cabinet before sitting back down at the table. She poured some of the alcohol into both glasses and handed one to Tommy._

_ "Drink this," she said._

_ He stared at the glass for a moment and then looked up at Hayley._

_ "I don't think—" he started to protest._

_ "You need to deal with this some way," Hayley interrupted. "So if you won't talk to me, then bottoms up."_

_ Sighing, Tommy took picked up the glass and stared at it for a moment longer before taking a drink. Hayley smiled, taking a drink out of her own glass. A little while later, when Tommy was finished eating, they moved into the living room. They sat on opposite ends of the couch, not speaking as they studied each other. The bottle, emptier now that it had been, was sitting on the floor by Hayley._

_ "So are you ready to talk now?" she asked, breaking the silence._

_ "Hayley, I can't," Tommy answered. "I'm sorry, but—I just can't tell you."_

_ She sighed, shaking her head._

_ "Tommy, I know you're a power ranger," she said. "Or were, before college."_

_ "What are you talking about?" he said, looking away as he tried to evade the question._

_ "Oh give it up," Hayley said. "I've known since the end of fall semester. You and your friends can be kind of obvious to those who know what to look for."_

_ "I'm not a power ranger, Hayley," Tommy protested._

_ "Yes, you are—were," she said. "You were the green ranger and then eventually the red ranger."_

_ "And white," Tommy said out of reflex before he caught himself. "I-I mean—oh great…"_

_ Hayley smiled, shaking her head thoughtfully._

_ "Don't worry," she said. "Again, I already knew and I haven't told anyone. But I hadn't figured out the white yet. That would explain the rather large gap…"_

_ Tommy groaned._

_ "They're gonna kill me," he muttered. "Our identities are supposed to be a secret."_

_ "Well," Hayley said. "If it makes you feel any better, it's Jason's fault. Not yours. I figured him out first, and then the rest kind of fell into place."_

_ "Oh," Tommy said, frowning._

_ Then he sighed, shaking his head._

_ "Doesn't matter," he muttered. "He'd still find a way to make it my fault…"_

_ Hayley frowned. _

_ "Why would he blame you for something that wasn't your fault?" she asked. _

_ "Because that way he doesn't have to take any for himself," Tommy snapped. "If he just blames everyone else, he doesn't have to feel bad. But blaming Andros won't bring Zordon back. And ignoring me doesn't make me disappear."_

_ There was a pause again._

_ "Who was ignoring you?" Hayley asked. "Jason?"_

_ "No," Tommy muttered. "Kat. Apparently she couldn't bring herself to say anything about me, good or bad, so she just tried to pretend I wasn't there. And, of course, since she speaks up first everyone else takes her lead. It was like I was never part of the team. Never there. But I was there the longest. I stayed when everyone else left. I stayed. And now…"_

_ He trailed off, shaking his head as he stared down at his glass. Hayley watched him for a moment and then scooted closer. Tommy looked up at her in surprise._

_ "I think it's time for a change," she said. "Time to move on."_

_ "What do you mean?" Tommy asked suspiciously._

_ "How do you feel about your hair?" Hayley asked with a smile._

Hayley smiled, running her fingers through Dr. Oliver's hair. His breathing had slowed and his grasp her hand had loosened as he fell asleep. Shaking her head, Hayley laughed quietly as she remembered the morning after.

_Hayley was getting a late breakfast when someone started pounding loudly on her apartment door. She sighed, setting down her cereal bowl and going to answer._

_ "Hayley!" she heard Tommy yelling from the hallway._

_ Sighing, she opened the door and braced herself. Tommy stormed into her apartment and she shut the door behind him, turning to face him. He was glaring at her as he ran a hand over his head, feeling his now short hair._

_ "Hayley," he growled. "What did you do?"_

_ "I didn't do anything," she said, going back to her cereal. _

_ Tommy glared at her as she poured some milk into the bowl._

_ "Then what happened?" he demanded. "Why is my hair short?"_

_ "You got it cut," she said calmly, sitting down at the table._

_ She took a bite of cereal as Tommy groaned, running a hand over his head again._

_ "But why?" he asked. "My hair hasn't been this short since—since I don't even remember when!"_

_ "Because it was time for a change," Hayley said, looking up at him. "Besides, I think it makes you look more professional."_

_ "Agh!" Tommy exclaimed. "Who cut my hair then?"_

_ "Sonja," she answered. "Oh. I guess did do something. I drove the car as you were in no shape to do so. But Sonja held the scissors and you said 'go ahead'."_

_ "Hayley," Tommy growled. "Just how drunk was I?"_

_ "You only had the equivalent of a few shots," she said. "But between those and your exhaustion from spending three days wandering in the desert, I'd say you were somewhere between tipsy and falling off a stool."_

_ "That's a pretty big gap," Tommy said, glaring._

_ "Oh calm down, Tommy," Hayley said. "It's hair. If you really hate it like this, it'll grow back. Now sit down and talk. I want to know more about your years as a power ranger. There are a lot of gaps to fill in."_

_ "What are you talking about?" Tommy said in surprise, trying to avoid the question._

_ Hayley sighed._

_ "Don't you remember anything from last night?" she asked. _

_ "No, I don't," Tommy said shortly. "What did I say?"_

_ Taking a deep breath, Hayley gestured for Tommy to sit down. He did, still regarding her in suspicion._

_ "Alright," she said. "I guess we're starting last night's conversation over. Now, to start with, I know you were a power ranger."_

It had taken longer since he was actually alert, but Hayley had finally gotten him to talk about being a power ranger and everything that had happened at the memorial. His friends were lucky he had managed to keep their contact information away from her for a while.


	20. The Talk

"Do any of you know what Tommy did after passing on his Turbo power?" Billy persisted. "When he finally thought he was done and could relax?"

The others shook their heads.

"What does it matter?" Jason asked. "It isn't like he was all that concerned about where we were."

"Because none of us talked to him," Billy said. "When we left, we left everything. Especially you, Kim."

"What?" she exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

"That letter," Billy said. "What were you thinking, Kimberly? Sending it to the youth center of all places. You embarrassed him in front of everyone."

"Well—I—I tried to make it better," Kim protested. "I tried to fix it."

Billy shook his head.

"At the worst possible time," Billy said. "Zordon's memorial was not the time or the place. Emotions were already running high. He was upset. We all were. I heard about what you said that day, Kim. And you never apologized. You didn't even try. All you wanted was for it to be fixed."

"And what's wrong with that?" she asked. "I didn't want there to be hard feelings between us."

"All you had to do was apologize," Billy said, shaking his head. "And it would have been better. But no, you just spring everything on him and expect him to make it better. Well, Tommy was in no shape to make it better. And then all of you ganged up on him. Even you, Trini. You always listened to all of us before casting judgment. But you didn't even give Tommy a chance."

"I heard him yell at her," Trini said defensively. "I witnessed it."

Billy shook his head, starting to pace back and forth in front of them as he continued.

"Not everything," Billy said. "You assumed Tommy brought it up. That he confronted Kim. Did he confront you, Kimberly?"

Kim shook her head, her shoulders slumping.

"No," she said. "I just—After everything that was happening, I didn't want to fight anymore… But I guess I just made things worse."

"No one took Tommy's side," Billy said. "All of you ganged up on him, and I wasn't there."

Jason shook his head.

"Kat would have been on his side," Jason argued. "She was his girlfriend after all."

"Not anymore she wasn't," Billy said, shaking his head.

"Wait a minute," Conner said. "Wasn't that the girl who dumped Dr. O after he proposed to her?"

Everyone turned to stare at Conner.

"What?" Ethan, Kira, and Trent exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Kim asked. "What proposal?"

"Conner," Billy said, frowning. "How did you know?"

The originals looked at Billy in surprise.

"Wait," Jason said. "So it's true. Tommy proposed and Kat turned him down?"

Billy sighed.

"Yes," he said grudgingly. "But, again, how did you know about it Conner?"

"I found the ring in a box in the basement," Conner answered. "I was gonna tease Dr. O about having a secret girlfriend, but Hayley caught me first. She told me if Dr. O ever found out I knew, or if I told anyone else, he would kill me—Oops."

Conner paled, looking around the room frantically.

"Please don't tell Dr. O," he begged. "He's gonna kill me if he finds out. I'm so dead…Please don't tell him."

The other three teens were looking at Conner in horror, realizing just how mad Dr. Oliver would be if he found out Conner knew and had told the rest of them. The other rangers were just shocked by the news in general.

"Don't worry, Conner," Billy said, walking over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I won't let Tommy kill you. You are still a minor after all."

Conner looked up at him, panic still written across his face.

"So when I'm not a minor it's ok if he kills me?" he exclaimed.

Billy sighed, shaking his head and walked away.

"They're not responsible for us once we're not minors," Ethan said, looking at Conner. "We're only their problem until we turn eighteen."

"That's it," said Conner. "I moving away the day I turn eighteen. I'll go far away. Like Acapulco."

"Do you even know where Acapulco is?" Kira asked.

"No," Conner answered. "But maybe that means it's harder to find."

The other three teens groaned, shaking their heads. Billy cleared his throat and they quieted down.

"Anyways, did none of you notice Kat avoiding Tommy like the plague?" Billy asked, trying to get back on topic again. "From what I heard, she didn't even use his name when she was talking about the rest of us. Andros was quite upset about that when I spoke to him."

"Don't bring him into this," Jason growled, glaring at Billy. "The traitor is lucky we let him live."

"Jason!" Billy and the other originals exclaimed, staring at him in shock.

Conner leapt up from the couch, intending to launch himself at Jason again. Ethan and Trent barely caught the back of his shirt in time, hauling him back down between them. Kim, Zach, and Trini took a few steps away from Jason, shaking their heads in disbelief.

"How dare you say something like that," Billy finally got out, clenching his fists. "It wasn't Andros' fault, Jason, or his choice. Zordon asked—No. Zordon told him to do it. It was Zordon's choice, and he made that sacrifice for all of us. You wouldn't have been able to do what he did. So don't fault Andros for doing what none of us could have done."

"It shouldn't have happ—" Jason started to say.

"Shut up, Jason," Zach snapped.

Jason looked at Zach in surprise, but he didn't say anything else. Billy took a deep breath, forcing himself to unclench his fists and relax a little.

"You need to deal with that on your own," Billy said shortly. "Now, back to what I was saying earlier. Do any of you actually know what happened to Tommy before the memorial?"

"What do you mean?" Trini asked. "Something happened to him?"

"After he left the Turbo Rangers," Billy said, nodding, "Tommy went to school. But he was also racing. Just before the end of the racing season, Tommy was in a bad accident. He spent ten days in the hospital. He was in a coma for two of them."

"What?" Kim exclaimed. "How come no one told us?"

"He couldn't get a hold of anyone," Billy said. "I got the message too late to do anything. And the rest of you, I don't know. But that's why he wears the glasses now. When he was hit, his engine exploded. Tommy was flash blinded and he his head, hard. So, even though he really only needs the glasses for reading, he's not allowed to race anymore."

"I never knew that," Trini said softly. "That's awful. And then Kat turning him down…"

"Yes," Billy said. "And that happened just a week before Zordon's death."

"So he was already a wreck when we all laid into him," Zach said, shaking his head. "Man, I feel like such an idiot. Never returning his phone calls. Always figuring I'd catch him the next time…"

Billy looked at Zach.

"And that's your problem, Zach," Billy said. "You've become too wrapped up in your own life, forgetting that you have friends outside of your business. People who care about you, and expected you to feel the same."

Zach stared down at his feet. Kim and Trini were exchanging guilty glances, Billy's lecture starting to get to them. Jason just stared, his arms crossed over his chest.


	21. Solving your problems

Hayley sighed. She really should go down and—talk—to the other rangers, but she didn't want to leave him alone. And she was pretty sure he didn't want her to kill his friends. Laying a hand on his cheek, Hayley tried to think of reasons not to make them all disappear. Unfortunately, she couldn't come up with a good reason for Jason. Every time she thought about Jason, all she could see was Dr. Oliver coming back from the moon mission.

_Staring at her computer screen, Hayley muttered silently as she tried to make the program run correctly. She was alone and had been for the past few weeks. Tommy had been on and off the island for the past year, working with Anton on some secret project. He came back once in a while, and they talked all the time, but this time he had only stopped at the apartment long enough to pick up some things. Apparently he was going to spend some time at a resort to try and relax. Hayley laughed to herself. Tommy had invited her, but she had said no, determined to finish her own project before the month was up. Not hearing the faint sounds of a key in the lock, Hayley jumped and nearly tipped over her chair when the apartment door suddenly crashed open. Spinning around, she saw Tommy storm into the apartment. He ripped his jacket off and threw it across the room toward the closet._

_ "I take it the vacation wasn't as relaxing as you'd hoped?" she said, taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself down._

_ Tommy spun around to look at Hayley, glaring in her direction. Hayley gasped in surprise. Though he had wiped most of the blood away, she could see that his lip had been split open. Faint coloring under one eye indicated the beginnings of a black eye and his shirt was ripped in several places. Dirt was smeared everywhere._

_ "Tommy!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her chair. "What happened?"_

_ "Doesn't matter," he snapped, stalking toward his bedroom._

_ Hayley followed him. She watched from the doorway as he started shoving clothes into a duffle bag._

_ "Tommy, what's going on?" she asked. "Who attacked you? And where are you going? Is everything ok?"_

_ "I have to get out of here," he said shortly. "I'm going back to the island."_

_ He zipped the bag up, slinging it over his shoulder and tried to walk out of the bedroom. Hayley stepped in his way._

_ "Get out of the way, Hayley," he growled. _

_ "Not until you tell me what happened," Hayley said, blocking the door. "Spill. Who did this to you?"_

_ "It doesn't matter," he said. "Just get out of the way. I'm leaving."_

_ "And I'm not moving until you talk," she said. "So I guess we're at a standstill."_

_ Tommy dropped the duffle bag on the ground._

_ "I can always make you move," he said._

_ "But you won't," Hayley said, crossing her arms over her chest. _

_ "Who do you think you are that you know what I will or won't do?" Tommy demanded, turning his anger on her. "My friend? Wrong. I don't have friends anymore. And I probably never did. No one cares about me. Everything is my fault anyways, right? So why worry?"_

_ Tommy started pacing around the room, running a hand through his hair as he continued his tirade._

_ "I mean, he didn't have to come," he said. "I know I invited him. But it wasn't a mandatory mission. He should have just stayed where he was. The moon mission would have gone just fine without him. There were plenty of other rangers there to help. We didn't need him. And another thing. How is it all my fault that we never see each other?"_

_ Tommy's pacing had taken him to the far side of the room, away from the door. So Hayley moved into the bedroom, sitting down on the edge of Tommy's bed, patiently waiting for him to finish his rant. _

_ "It's not like he calls me anymore," Tommy snarled. "I always call him. And he never answers. Never calls me back. Yet he expects me to drop everything to go run and make Kimberly feel better about herself. Fix her mistakes for her. Fix everything for everyone because I'm the one who messed up in the first place. Why? Why is it always my fault? How can I possibly always be in the wrong?"_

_ Groaning, Tommy paused, leaning against the wall. Shaking his head, he sunk down to the ground, putting his head in his hands._

_ "I just—I don't understand," he mumbled._

_ The room was silent for a moment. Hayley stayed where she was on the edge of the bed. He was calming, his breathing slowing down. _

_ "I'm sorry, Hayley," he said quietly, staring at the floor. "It's not your fault Jason's an idiot."_

_ "No, it isn't," she said, standing up from the bed._

_ She headed for the door of the room and Tommy looked up at her in surprise._

_ "Where are you going?" he asked._

_ "Don't worry," she said, giving him a smile. "I'll be right back."_

_ Heading into the kitchen, Hayley pulled out a bottle of scotch and two glasses. She put ice in both glasses and then filled one with water. Swinging by her bedroom, Hayley grabbed a bottle of aspirin from her end table before heading back to Tommy's room. He was still sitting where she had left him and had gone back to staring at the floor. He looked up in surprise when she set the bottle down next to him._

_ "I'm not drinking that," he said, shaking his head. "I remember what happened the last time you got me drunk. It ended with a confession I don't remember and a haircut I wasn't expecting."_

_ "The haircut was good for you," Hayley said, sitting on the floor next to him. "Besides, it isn't for you. If we're solving your problems, I'm going to need it. This is for you."_

_ Hayley handed Tommy the glass of ice water and the bottle of aspirin. Smiling faintly, he took both from her and took some of the medicine before leaning his head back against the wall. _

_ "Thank you, Hayley," he said. _

_ "Of course," she said. "Now, let's start again from the beginning. I thought you were on vacation at a resort. How did you end up on the moon?"_

Shaking her head, Hayley climbed carefully off of the bed, trying not to wake Dr. Oliver up. He didn't move. She pulled a blanket over him and quietly slipped out of the room, heading down the stairs. Heads were gonna roll if the others didn't get their act together.


	22. Stubborn

_Hey, Guys! The feed back we have been getting on this story is great thank you all! I just wanted to let you know that we are coming to the end of this story only a couple more chapters to go. I really hope you enjoy it and keep the reviews coming! _

"So what else have we missed?" Trini asked softly.

Billy turned away from Jason to look at Trini. The teens, still sitting on the couch, kept their glares trained on the original red ranger. They already knew most of what Billy was telling the others.

"You guys have missed nearly ten years of his life," Billy said, shaking his head. "None of you were really in contact with Tommy once he wasn't a ranger anymore. Sure, there were sporadic moments when you came back. But nothing ever lasted."

"I know he finished school," Kim said. "I remember him saying he had a PhD when he came back in time. Zach was so shocked to hear that. We all laughed at him."

"He actually only just finished about two years ago," Billy said. "He had a bit of a setback with his internship requirement."

"I don't think there was anything minor about it," Ethan interrupted.

Billy turned to glare at him, silencing Ethan before he could say anything else.

"Anyways," said Billy. "Tommy managed to make it the rest of the way through college without anything big going wrong. Until, during his internship, he had to take a break to head the mission to the moon."

"Great," Jason muttered. "Here we go."

"What, Jason?" Billy asked. "You don't want everyone to know the truth? I've heard what you told everyone else. That Tommy attacked you. And maybe he did. I asked around and, from everything I've heard, you both said some pretty stupid things. But you were the one who threw the first punch. Everyone I spoke to agreed with that. You hit Tommy first, and without warning."

"He had it coming," Jason growled.

"So did you!" Conner yelled.

Ethan, Trent, and Kira grabbed him before he could attack Jason again. Trini, Kim, and Zach were looking at Jason in surprise.

"You told us he knocked you down and that's what started the fight," Trini exclaimed, glaring at Jason.

"He did," Jason said. "I wouldn't have hit him if he hadn't opened his mouth. He should have just walked away. I would've left him alone if he had."

"And you should've too," Billy said. "And after what happened six months later, you're lucky you even have this chance to repair things. Tommy wasn't lying when he said he had to go. He was in the middle of a very important project with his mentor, Anton Mercer on an island off the coast. He was already late getting back."

"Billy's right," Hayley said, walking back into the room.

She came to a stop next to the couch where the teens were sitting, glaring at Jason and the other original rangers.

"So what happened six months later?" Trini asked.

Hayley looked at Billy, but he gestured for her to go ahead, stepping out of the way.

"The island he was working on exploded," Hayley said. "While he was still on it."

"What?" Kim, Zach, and Trini exclaimed, looking at each other in horror.

Jason straightened up, frowning, but he didn't say anything.

"I can't tell you all of the details," Hayley continued. "But suffice it to say that something went horribly wrong with the project. Fortunately, Tommy managed to jump off of a cliff into the ocean as the island exploded. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be here now."

"Big deal," Jason said. "He's fine now. So what does it matter?"

"It matters," Hayley snarled, "because he almost didn't make it. And none of you were there to help like you should have been. Billy is the only one with a good excuse. He wasn't on the planet."

Striding forward, Hayley got in Jason's face, continuing her rant.

"I spent four days searching for him," she snapped. "Four days of searching. By myself. I finally found him washed up on a beach, unconscious. I was the one who dragged him to the car and got him to the hospital. He was nearly dead when I found him and fell into a coma for days. They didn't know if he'd come out of it or not."

"Why didn't you call us?" Trini asked.

"I tried!" Hayley exclaimed. "Billy, the one who was on another planet, was the only one who showed up to visit. Even the Space Rangers stopped by."

"I'm still thankful to Andros for getting me there," Billy said. "I feared I wouldn't make it in time."

"But you did," Hayley said. "And even if you hadn't, at least you would have tried. No one else even bothered. You, Zach, didn't answer your phone. I left you a message, but you never called me back. And Kim, you changed your number and didn't tell anyone. And you, Jason."

Hayley rounded back on Jason.

"You hung up on me!" Hayley growled. "You answered the phone, but the moment you heard Tommy's name you hung up on me! I never got the chance to say anything. And, since the two of you are married, Trini, I assumed you were in on it. Am I wrong?"

"You have no idea," Trini said, glaring at Jason. "What were you thinking?"

"How was I supposed to know he was in the hospital?" Jason said. "For all I knew, he was trying to get back on my good side using someone else."

Trini stalked over to her husband, jabbing him in the chest with her hand.

"Next time, hear the message before you make assumptions," Trini hissed. "When we get home, you're going to be sleeping on the couch. In the basement. And I'm not letting you have the space heater."

"Trini—" Jason said.

"No, Jason," Trini snapped. "I'm tired of listening to all of this. We've all made mistakes and it's time we faced that. And you aren't even trying."

Still glaring at Jason, she rejoined Kim and Zach.

"But what about Tommy?" Kim asked. "He's not innocent in all of this. We weren't the only ones to mess up."

"I never said he was innocent," Billy said. "Tommy took too much on himself. And he didn't ask for help when he should have. By the time he finally did, when he asked Andros to keep an eye on the machine empire, it was too late to stop the problems between us from escalating. At least by himself. Too many tempers were flaring."

"Oh for goodness sakes," Hayley interrupted. "You all know Tommy is socially incompetent."

The teens started laughing on the couch. Hayley turned around and glared at them.

"You four shut up," she said, and then turned back to the original rangers. "You guys were his first real friends, and when all of you left it just got worse. He's lucky I didn't kill him. The idiot does stupid things all the time."

"Yeah," Conner said. "Like when he decided to shock himself out of being stuck invisible."

Hayley glared at Conner again, but nodded.

"Yes," she agreed. "That was extremely stupid."

The originals looked at them in confusion, not sure what they were talking about.

"Don't worry," Ethan said, grinning at them. "I'm sure you'll remember eventually. We covered that back in 1993."

"Uh-huh…" Zach said. "We might have to come back to that story…"

"Later," Hayley said. "The point is, Tommy has been blaming himself. For everything. Even the things he didn't do. For the past ten years."

The room was silent again as the other rangers processed what Hayley was saying. Trini, Kim, and Zach exchanged guilty looks. Jason just kept shaking his head, his arms crossed over his chest. He was still determined not to give in. Hayley sighed, glancing up at the clock.

"Alright," Hayley said. "It's getting late and I think that you all need to go."

"Can't we talk to Tommy first?" Kim asked. "I mean, I don't want him to think we hate him anymore…"

"No," Hayley said shortly. "He's sleeping and I'm not waking him up. When he's ready, you can talk to him."

"But—" Kim started to protest.

"Not happening," Hayley said. "But just so you know, Kimberly. I spent years picking up after you and Kat. If you touch Tommy, I will break your hand. I don't have the patience right now to deal with you."

Kim stared at Hayley in shock. The other originals were just as surprised to hear Hayley issue the threat.

"She'll do it too," Ethan said. "Hayley is dangerous when she wants to be."

Kim nodded, not sure what to say.

"Oh, that reminds me," Hayley said, studying Kim.

Hayley strode forward. Before Kim realized what was going on, Hayley slapped her as hard as she could across the face. Kim gasped in pain. Shaking her hand, Hayley turned and walked away leaving Kim staring in shock, one hand pressed to her cheek, which was already turning red.

"I feel better now," Hayley said.

The teens were looking at each other and Hayley, trying not to laugh at the look on Kim's face.

"Now, as I was saying," Hayley continued. "It's time for all of you to leave."

"We're not going anywhere until we've talked to Tommy," Jason said, not moving. "We're finishing this tonight."

The teens hopped up from the couch, joining Hayley.

"Oh we're finished for the night," Hayley said. "And I don't want to see any of you here again until Tommy's ready to talk to you."

Jason straightened up from the wall and walked over to Hayley.

"Now listen here," he said. "I don't really know how you got involved in all of this and I don't really care. Our business is with Tommy. Not you."

Hayley just looked up at Jason, not moving. The teens started moving, deciding they needed to remove the others before someone got hurt. Kira, Trent, and Ethan started escorting Zach, Trini, and Kim toward the door. Conner moved to deal with Jason.

"Hayley said you're leaving," Conner said, inserting himself between them and pushing Jason backward. "So go."

"This isn't your house, kid," Jason growled as he caught himself.

"Maybe not," Conner said, crossing his arms in front of him. "But I have keys and you don't. So that means I have an open invitation to be here. You, on the other hand, are not welcome here right now. So, get out."

"What about Billy?" Jason asked.

Billy had stayed where he was, watching the others leave.

"I was invited," Billy said. "My stuff is already in the guest room."

Trini paused by Jason, tugging on his arm.

"Come on, Jason," she said. "Let's go."

He didn't move for a moment, glaring at Hayley and Conner. But neither one was backing down, so he relented, letting Trini pull him toward the door. Hayley followed after them down the hallway. Jason paused just outside the door, turning to look at Hayley again.

"So how do we know when he's ready to talk?" Jason asked. "Are we gonna have to wait until the next time something happens?"

"If you were really his friend," Hayley snapped. "You would know the answer."

Before Jason could say anything else, Hayley shut the door in his face and locked it. Sighing, she turned around to find the teens and Billy looking at her.

"Is Dr. O alright?" Kira asked.

"He'll be fine," Hayley said, smiling. "He just needs some sleep. I'm guessing he didn't do a whole lot of that while you were gone."

"Not really," Ethan said. "He was always gone, working on the device that got us back here."

Shaking her head, Hayley headed back down the hallway. She paused before heading up the stairs.

"If you four are staying the night," she said, "make sure you call your parents with cover stories."

"Got it, Hayley," Conner said.

Hayley went upstairs, back to Dr. Oliver's room. He was still fast asleep. Smiling, Hayley shut the door and climbed back onto the bed. She curled up next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. For a while she could hear the kids and Billy moving around downstairs. Eventually, she heard Billy come up and the guest room door shut. Finally, the house was quiet.

The original rangers were silent as they climbed back into the car and headed into Reefside to find a hotel. No one was really sure what to say after everything they had heard.

"Do you think Tommy will ever forgive us?" Kim said, breaking the silence.

"Forgive us?" Jason scoffed as he drove. "What about us forgiving him? He's just as much to blame."

The other three glared at him.

"Jase, shut up," Zach snapped. "We all messed up. But Tommy's been dealing with it alone all of these years. At least we've had each other. He shouldn't have had to be alone, and I don't think we can ever fix that. None of us were meant to do this alone."

Kim and Trini sighed. Something clicked in Zach's mind and he frowned.

"None of us were meant to do this alone," he muttered. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

The girls glanced over at him as Jason pulled into the parking lot of a hotel. Suddenly the phrase made sense and all four rangers looked at each other in surprise.

"Zordon!" Trini exclaimed. "Before they left to come back to this time. "He told us to remember our loyalty to each other. To the whole team. And that none of us were meant to do it alone."

Jason was staring at the steering wheel, completely dumbfounded. The memory Zach had just triggered had opened the flood gate for all of the other memories to come back. Memories Jason had been trying to deny all night. He shook his head, silently berating himself.

"Jason?" Trini said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm such an idiot," he muttered. "How can I have been so stupid? It all makes sense now, why Tommy didn't want to talk. Why he was so standoffish. I'm just—I'm an idiot. That's all there is to it. I'm an idiot."

The other three stared at him in surprise. Trini found her voice first.

"Yes, you are," she said. "Now get inside and see if they have any vacancies."

Nodding, Jason climbed out of the car and headed inside. He came back out a few minutes later and waved for them to get out of the car.

"They only have one room open right now," he said. "It's got two beds though. And they said we can have a cot if we want."

"Good. But we won't need the cot," said Trini. "Kim and I will share a bed and Zach can have the other one."

Jason frowned.

"Trini, where am I supposed to sleep?" he asked.

"You can sleep in the car," she said, grabbing her bag. "And you're lucky I'm letting you sleep in there and not making you sleep on the ground out here."

"Trini—" Jason started to protest.

"No, Jason," she said. "You need to spend some time thinking. I think the car is the best place for that. We'll come get you for breakfast in the morning."

Taking their things, Trini, Zach, and Kim headed inside. Sighing, Jason watched them go and then climbed back in the car.


	23. The next day

The next morning, Hayley walked down the stairs, yawning. She paused by the living room to check on the kids. Ethan, Trent, and Kira were already awake. Kira and Trent were sitting on the couch, each of them still wrapped in a blanket. They were watching Ethan, who was sitting on the other end of the couch tossing small paper balls at Conner. He was still sleeping, sprawled across the floor with his mouth hanging open. Ethan, who was trying to land the paper balls in Conner's mouth, saw Hayley standing in the doorway and froze. She just sighed, shaking her head and heading into the kitchen. Shrugging, Ethan went back to what he was doing. A minute later, Hayley reappeared with a box of Coco Puffs in her hand.

"Here," she said, handing the box to Ethan. "These will work a lot better. And then you aren't wasting paper."

"Since when does Dr. O have Coco Puffs?" Ethan asked, taking the box.

"I bought them for you guys," Hayley answered. "Try not to kill Conner. If he starts choking, save him."

"Got it, Hayley," Ethan said, opening the box and starting to throw the small chocolate balls at Conner.

"Anyways," Hayley said. "I'm going to make breakfast."

She left the living room again. Kira and Trent looked at each other and then over at Ethan. Shrugging, they left their blankets on the couch and followed Hayley into the kitchen. She had already set out milk and cereal and was grabbing bowls when they walked in. Billy was sitting at the table, already eating.

"Thanks, Hayley," Trent said, pouring a bowl.

Kira echoed his thanks, pouring a bowl for herself. Hayley sat down with them and the four talked quietly while they ate. A little while later, Ethan and Conner joined them.

"So not cool, man," Conner grumbled, glaring at Ethan. "I could've died!"

"But you didn't," Ethan said, grinning.

"Sit down," Hayley said, looking at the two boys. "Tommy is still sleeping. I don't want to wake him up yet."

"But it's almost ten o'clock," Ethan said. "Dr. O never sleeps this late."

Hayley stood up to rinse her bowl out in the sink.

"But he also doesn't usually go almost two weeks with virtually no sleep," Hayley said. "At least not recently... Especially with all of the stress. He needs this."

"Don't worry, Hayley," Kira said, glaring at Conner and Ethan. "We'll keep it down."

After everyone was done eating, the teens moved back to the living room and pulled out a few decks of cards. Billy sat down to play with them. Hayley sat down in one of the chairs to watch them, curling up with a book. Every so often she put down the book, glancing toward the stairs. Around noon, she stood up, stretching.

"Time for lunch," she said. "Any suggestions?"

Conner shot his hand up in the air.

"Pizza!" he said.

Hayley rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Alright," she said. "I guess we can treat you today. I'll go call it in."

Hayley disappeared into the other room for a few minutes and then came back. She sat down with her book again to wait. When the pizza arrived, the whole group headed for the kitchen. Conner grabbed a box off the counter and tried to take it to his seat with him.

"No, Conner," Hayley said as everyone started grabbing plates. "You don't get a whole box to yourself. Share."

Sheepishly, Conner set the box back down and took a couple of slices out, putting them on a plate.

"So do you think the other rangers will come back?" Trent asked. "I mean, they still seemed kind of angry when they left last night."

Hayley shrugged, sitting down at the table with the teens and Billy.

"I don't know," she said. "But at least everything is out in the open now."

The room was silent for a few minutes as everyone ate, thinking about the night before.

"I smell pizza," Dr. Oliver said from the doorway.

He stood there, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck and yawning.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, sleepy head," Hayley said with a smile. "There's a veggie pizza on the counter for you."

"Thanks," he said. "Smells good."

Grabbing a plate and some pizza, Dr. Oliver sat down at the table. He was quiet for a moment and then looked up at the teens.

"I hope you guys didn't break anything last night," Dr. Oliver said.

The teens all shook their heads.

"Well I certainly didn't break anything," Kira said. "You would have heard it if I used my scream."

"True," Dr. Oliver said, smiling. "But that doesn't mean nothing got broken."

"Nah," Ethan said. "The only thing that might be broken is Jason's jaw. Conner hit him pretty hard after you left the room. I'm surprised he was able to keep running his mouth like that."

Dr. Oliver sighed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, well Kim's face is probably sore too," Conner said, looking over at Hayley. "That hit came out of nowhere."

"What?" Dr. Oliver said.

"Hayley slapped Kim," Ethan said.

Dr. Oliver turned to look at Hayley in surprise. She shrugged, taking another bite of her pizza.

"She had it coming," she said.

Dr. Oliver shook his head again.

"Apparently I missed quite a bit, then," he said. "No hospital trips though, right?"

"No," Hayley said. "At least not for our group. I wasn't going to ask them."

"Uh-huh," Dr. Oliver said, turning back to the teens. "So did you use your morning well?"

"Well, we played cards with Billy," Ethan said. "Hayley read a book."

Dr. Oliver finished his pizza. He stood up, taking the plate to the sink.

"So you didn't study for your science test?" he said. "Still happening on Monday."

The four teens looked at each other and then back at Dr. Oliver.

"Aww… Dr. O," Conner said. "But we have all day tomorrow—"

Shrugging, Dr. Oliver crossed his arms in front of him as he leaned back against the counter.

"Well that's fine," he said. "Anyone who doesn't want to study can join me for a sparring match in the backyard."

There was a pause, and then all four of the teens scrambled. Dropping their plates in the sink, they bolted out of the kitchen and down the hallway.

"Our backpacks are in the lab, right?" Ethan asked Hayley as he paused at the door.

She nodded, laughing at them.

"Great," Ethan said. "We'll be in the lab studying if anyone needs us."

Hayley and Dr. Oliver both laughed. Billy just shook his head, staring after the teens.

"Well, that is certainly an effective method of getting rid of them," he said. "Do you employ it often?"

"Only when I have to," Dr. Oliver answered.

Straightening up, he headed for the hallway. But then he paused, turning to look at Billy.

"Billy, I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that last night. You were just trying to help and—"

"Don't worry about it, Tommy," Billy said. "You were tired. And after everything you went through during those two weeks, it's understandable. There's nothing to forgive."

"Thanks, Billy," Dr. Oliver said.

There was a pause as the two men just watched each other.

"Tommy," Billy said after a moment. "If you don't mind, I would like to join you outside. Although I must warn you that I am quite out of practice."

Dr. Oliver smiled.

"Of course, Billy," he said. "And don't worry. I'm not really in the mood for a full sparring match. We'll go slow."

Both men headed down the hallway, leaving Hayley alone in the kitchen. Sighing, she put the leftovers in the fridge and the rest of the dishes in the sink to wash later. Since the house was quiet, she headed back to the living room to continue reading. A little while later a knock on the door broke her concentration. Sighing, Hayley put her bookmark in place and stood up to go answer the door. She opened the front door to find Jason, Trini, Zach, and Kim.

"Just give it a minute, Jason," Trini was saying. "You have to give someone time to get to the door."

"But who knows if they even want us here," he argued back. "Maybe Tommy wants nothing—Hi, Hayley!"

She raised an eyebrow, studying the four original rangers and not saying anything.

"Umm… We were hoping to talk to Tommy," Jason said after a moment. "We—I wanted to apologize."

Hayley was silent for another moment, scrutinizing Jason as she tried to read his intentions. Sighing, she stepped back and let them into the house.

"He's in the backyard with Billy," she said. "Please try and keep any unnecessary comments to yourselves this time."

Hayley led the way through the house to the back door. Outside, Dr. Oliver was talking Billy through a kata. They didn't pause when the door opened. The other rangers stood quietly while they waited for them to finish. When Dr. Oliver and Billy had finished the sequence they were working through, they stopped, turning to look at the other rangers. Dr. Oliver crossed his arms over his chest, waiting. No one spoke for a moment.

"Hey," Jason finally said, breaking the silence.

"What are you guys doing back here?" Dr. Oliver asked.

"Look, Tommy," Jason said. "I know you don't want us here. But—I needed to apologize before we left. I've been an idiot and said a lot of things I shouldn't have. I don't know if you can, but I'm really hoping you'll forgive me."

"All of us," Trini said. "For not giving you a chance when we should have."

"For leaving," Zach said. "And basically forgetting about you."

There was a pause. Kim glanced hesitantly at Hayley and took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry, Tommy," she burst out, giving him a quick hug and backing away.

Dr. Oliver looked at her in surprise.

"Are you ok?" he asked, having expected her to cling longer.

Kim glanced over at Hayley again, who was glaring at her.

"Uh, yeah," she said quickly. "I'm fine."

Dr. Oliver frowned, looking between Kim and Hayley. Sighing, he shook his head.

"Alright, I know she hit you," Dr. Oliver said. "But did my girlfriend threaten you?"

"Umm… Well—" Kim stammered, looking over at Hayley again.

Groaning, Dr. Oliver rubbed a hand over his face.

"That's enough of an answer for me," he muttered. "Hayley, you can't just go around threatening everyone. I do need to talk to people once in a while. You aren't going to be able to keep everyone away forever."

Hayley just smirked, shrugging her shoulders. Dr. Oliver glared at her before turning back to Kim.

"I'm sorry, Kim," Dr. Oliver said, shooting another glare at Hayley. "She can be a bit possessive sometimes."

"Wait, girlfriend?" Trini exclaimed. "How long have you been dating? Why didn't anyone say anything last night?"

She smiled, looking back and forth between Dr. Oliver and Hayley. Dr. Oliver groaned. Zach and Jason started laughing.

"You walked right into that one, bro," Jason said, walking up and putting a hand on Dr. Oliver's shoulder.

Dr. Oliver looked at Jason in surprise and then started shaking his head.

"Yeah, and some help you are," Dr. Oliver said. "Can't you control your wife? I'm not prepared for an interrogation."

"No one controls her," Jason said, shaking his head. "But you're welcome to try."

Trini frowned at Dr. Oliver and Jason, putting her hands on her hips.

"Hey," Jason said, putting his hands up. "I'm already sleeping on the couch for the next couple of weeks. What's a few days more?"


	24. Forgiven?

_Well last chapter! :D hope you liked our idea of what could happen with some fun time travel! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and given feedback on this story we love it! We have actually taken some of the ideas and suggestions given in the reviews and are going to write a sequel with the other rangers. (aka rocky aisha tanya kat and adam!) so be on the look out. It will be a bit before it is out, but in the mean time check out some of our other stories. Just an FYI to everyone hazergirl1220 and i are coauthors on all our stories and we like to do AUs so check it out and give them a chance we always have a plan! Thanks again for the support on this story. I really hope you enjoy the final chapter of Dino Time!  
_

"Wow, Jason," Zach said with a grin. "She's really got you whipped, doesn't she?"

Jason turned to face Zach, stalking toward him with a glare on his face. Zach started backing up, laughing as he tried to apologize. But he bumped into Trini, who had turned her glare on him as well. Jason caught up, putting Zach in a headlock. Dr. Oliver watched them for a moment. Then he ran forward and jumped on Jason's back. Grabbing Jason by the shoulders, he pulled him off of Zach. They both landed on the ground.

"Awww, man," Jason groaned as Dr. Oliver rolled back up to his feet.

"Run, Zach!" Dr. Oliver said.

Laughing, Zach ran and hid behind Hayley. She glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Really, Zach?" she said, shaking her head. "You're going to hide behind me?"

"Yep," Zach grinned. "I know at least Kimberly's afraid of you."

Kim turned to glare at him. Dr. Oliver bent down over Jason, grinning at him.

"I think we're even now," he said. "What do you think, bro?"

Growling, Jason reached up and shoved Dr. Oliver, knocking him over. Dr. Oliver landed on his back. Reaching over, Jason patted him on the shoulder.

"Now we're even," he said.

Dr. Oliver burst out laughing. The rest of the group stared at him for a moment and then joined in. Then they heard yelling coming from the woods.

"I told you never to call me babe!" Kira yelled at Conner as they came running out of the trees.

She had chased him out of the lab through the back door. Sighing, Dr. Oliver leapt back up to his feet. He turned around and offered a hand to Jason, pulling him back up.

"Back to work," he said, turning to watch Kira and Conner.

"Does your work ever end?" Jason asked.

Conner was zipping from place to place, trying to apologize. But Kira wasn't having it. She looked ready to kill him. Dr. Oliver shook his head, crossing his arms in front of him as he watched.

"Nope," Dr. Oliver answered. "Not with them around."

Kira finally caught Conner. The original rangers all winced as she tackled him, slamming him into the ground. She pinned him there, continuing to rant as she put him in a headlock. Dr. Oliver sighed, shaking his head. Hayley disappeared in the house for a moment, coming back with the first aid kit.

"Umm… Shouldn't we go stop her?" Kim asked.

"Oh, he's fine," Dr. Oliver said. "She'll let him go before he stops breathing. Probably."

The rangers looked at Dr. Oliver in surprise. He just shrugged.

"Are they always like this?" Jason asked.

"Most of the time," Hayley answered. "Surprisingly, they actually fight together extremely well. It's off the battlefield where we start having issues."

Ethan and Trent came jogging out of the woods. They paused to watch Kira and Conner, but then walked over to join the others.

"Pay up," Trent said. "I told you she'd catch him in under five minutes."

"Aw, come on," Ethan grumbled. "You have a rich dad. And a job."

Trent just shook his head.

"Your point?" he said. "Dad's not exactly in the mood to be giving an allowance right now. And as much as I love the job, it's only minimum wage."

"Pay up, Ethan," Dr. Oliver said. "You made the bet. Now you have to deal with it."

Grumbling, Ethan pulled the money out of his pocket and handed it over.

"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed, perking up. "You still owe me twenty bucks! And Conner five!"

He pointed at Jason, who just looked at him in surprise.

"What?" Jason said, his brow furrowed as he tried to remember making a bet with Ethan.

"Remember?" Ethan said. "We bet you Dr. O could take on Goldar by himself. And he did. So pay up."

Jason stared at Ethan and then looked over at Dr. Oliver, who just shrugged.

"He's right, Jase," Dr. Oliver said. "Next time you won't make a bet with them."

Muttering, Jason pulled the money out of his pocket and handed Ethan's to him. He paused, looking over where Conner was still getting an earful from Kira. Dr. Oliver sighed.

"Alright, Kira," he called. "That's enough for now. Let him go."

Kira immediately let go. Conner fell forward, catching himself just before he landed on his face. Groaning, he got back to his feet and trailed behind Kira as she walked over to join everyone else.

"Man," he muttered, rubbing his head. "That hurt, Kira."

"What?" she said, glaring at him. "You're inflated ego didn't break your fall?"

"Hey!" Conner exclaimed, glaring back at her.

Shaking his head, Jason handed Conner the five dollars. Looking confused for a moment, Conner grinned when he realized what it was for. He started to stick the money in his pocket. But Dr. Oliver cleared his throat and he stopped. Dr. Oliver was looking at Ethan and Conner expectantly, holding out a hand.

"Right," Conner said.

Reaching into his pocket, Conner put the five away and pulled out a couple of singles, handing them over to Dr. Oliver. Ethan handed over a five. Jason and the other originals stared at them in surprise, but Hayley just shook her head and sighed.

"I always get a percentage when they bet on me," Dr. Oliver said, seeing the others staring at him.

"How often do they bet on you?" Zach exclaimed.

"You'd be surprised," Dr. Oliver answered, sticking the money in his pocket. "Now, back to business. Conner, she caught you in under five minutes. You know what that means."

Groaning, Conner glared at Kira. He headed straight to the training ring, muttering the whole time. Dr. Oliver followed after him. Inside the ring, Conner immediately took up a fighting stance. Dr. Oliver took his place opposite Conner.

"This should be entertaining," Jason said, grinning. "Do you always do this, bro?"

"Gotta keep them on their toes somehow," Dr. Oliver answered as he and Conner sprang into motion.

Dr. Oliver knocked Conner down and reset while Conner climbed back to his feet.

"Besides," he continued. "Training is good for them."

The other teens laughed as Conner went down again. Dr. Oliver glanced over at them as he and Conner reset again.

"You guys are next," he said. "So I would be watching instead of laughing."

Kira, Ethan, and Trent groaned.

"I don't know," Jason said, grinning at them. "This actually looks like fun. I haven't sparred like this in a long time."

Dr. Oliver held up a hand to Conner, pausing their fight. He turned to look at Jason, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Really?" he said. "You, who owns his own dojo, haven't sparred recently? I find that hard to believe."

Jason shrugged.

"I don't have a whole lot of advanced students right now," he said. "It's hard to have a proper sparring match when your opponent can't keep up with you."

"Uh huh," Dr. Oliver said, shaking his head. "Well, I have a solution for you."

"And what is that?" Jason asked.

Dr. Oliver stepped out of the ring and started heading toward the house.

"Tommy, where are you going?" Jason asked.

"I'm going to go take a shower," he answered, looking back over his shoulder. "Team, Jason's in charge of training for the rest of the afternoon."

The four teens exchanged glances, smiles lighting up their faces.

"Wait, what?" Jason exclaimed.

But before he could say anything else, Conner tackled him. Jason grunted as he hit the ground, Conner landing on top of him. Kira, Ethan, and Trent leapt onto the pile right after Conner.

"Not cool, bro," Jason muttered, turning his head to glare after Dr. Oliver.

The other rangers were laughing at him. Looking at each other, they grinned and ran to join the dog pile. Zach grabbed Billy by the arm, pulling him along and onto the pile. Trini and Kim jumped on top of them. Laughing, Hayley joined in as well. Dr. Oliver paused for a minute to watch. Then, laughing, he turned and headed into the house.


End file.
